Feb. 28, 2022
Plastic cutlery is everywhere, and most of it can only be used once. Billions of forks, knives and spoons are thrown away each year. But like other plastic products, such as bags and bottles, cutlery can take centuries to break down naturally, giving plastic waste plenty of time to enter the environment.
A logical solution would be to carry it with you, but you might catch some eyes. However, for centuries it has been rude not to.
Carrying your own eating utensils is not only a logistical necessity - it's not usually provided - but it helps avoid disease. If you bring your own utensils, you don't have to worry about having someone else's germs in your soup. What you eat is also a status symbol of sorts.
Tableware for the masses is usually made of wood, stone or shells. More ornate sets could be made of gold or ivory, and could even be folded for lightweight travel. By the early 1900s, smooth and rust-resistant stainless steel was available. By the Second World War, a newer material had entered the cutlery mix: plastic.
At first, plastic tableware was considered reusable. Chris Wetmore, a professor of archaeology and classics at Texas Tech University, remembers his grandmother washing her plastic cutlery. But as the postwar economy boomed, the habits of frugality instilled by the Great Depression and agricultural history faded.
After the mid-20th century, excess dictated the way of life for most people, leading to a "disposable culture.
Americans were the kings of disposability. Other inventions included the plastic fork, which was patented in 1970. But Coffin says the French love of picnics also helped fuel the disposable craze.
Designer Jean-Pierre Vitrac, for example, invented a plastic picnic tray with a fork, spoon, knife and cup. You can break them off to use them and throw everything away when you're done. The sets are even available in bright colors, which helped make the plastic popular.
The combination of culture and convenience has led companies like Sodexo, one of the world's largest food service providers, to turn to plastic. "Convenience has really made the whole disposal space a part of our daily lives," says Judy Panayos, senior director of sustainability for Sodexo Supply Management.
Today, the company buys 44 million pieces of disposable tableware each month in the United States alone. Globally, plastic tableware is a $2.6 billion business.
But convenience comes at a price. Like many plastic products, utensils often end up in the environment. According to beach cleanup data compiled by the nonprofit 5Gyres, cutlery is the seventh most commonly collected plastic item.
Food and beverage disposables overwhelmingly topped the list," said Anna Cummins, executive director of 5Gyres, deliberately highlighting the entire category.
She argues that environmentalists' recent focus on individual items, whether bags, straws or other items, is not working and that the sector needs to be addressed more comprehensively. "Focusing on a single product, while important, won't move the needle as far as we need it to."
A Hi Fly aircraft takes off from Lisbon and flies to Brazil. As with other journeys on this Portuguese airline, attendants serve drinks, food and snacks - but differently. According to the airline, this is the world's first passenger flight to be completely free of single-use plastics.
Hi Fly uses a range of alternative materials, from paper to plant-based disposables. Tableware is made from reusable bamboo, which the airline plans to take back to its dining facilities and wash up to 100 times.
Other companies are following suit. Ethiopian Airlines celebrated Earth Day in April with its own plastic-free flight.
Tableware is part of a broader anti-plastic backlash. France was the first country to ban plastic tableware. Around the world, people are experimenting with alternatives to plastic, from potato starch and betel leaves to grain-based edible tableware.
Sales of such plastic alternatives remain relatively low, often hampered by higher costs and sometimes questionable environmental benefits. So-called bioplastic options, for example, made from plant materials, may require specific conditions to break down, and even they require energy and water to produce. But the market for them and other forms of biodegradable tableware is growing.
There are three things you can do to be part of the solution.
1. Bring reusable tableware.
2. If you use disposable tableware, make sure it is made of biodegradable or compostable materials.
3. Choose to eat at places that don't use plastic utensils.
Many companies are using plant-based materials, including wood, to make utensils. Some of them are getting their materials from fast-growing trees such as birch or bamboo.
A line of disposable wooden utensils called Clickeat is one example. A set of thin utensils (forks, knives and optional spoons) attached to a handle, it breaks down into individual tools that can be discarded after use. It is compostable and biodegradable.
The inventor of this utensil, Adler, first realized the seriousness of the plastic waste problem while surfing with friends in Chile. The beach was covered with plastic trash. Alarmed, Adler began discussing with others how best to solve the problem.
"Everyone was talking about plastic bags and bottles, but no one was talking about cutlery," he recalls. To devise an alternative, they started their own company, Simlo.
Although Adler believes Clickeat is preferable to many other options (especially bioplastics), he insists he's not trying to discourage people from finding other solutions, such as carrying their own cutlery. He's just trying to offer a better option.
"Our goal is not to replace what's reusable," he says. "We're trying to redefine the concept of single-use."
In China, environmentalists have launched a campaign to get people to bring their own chopsticks. The online marketplace Etsy has a section dedicated to reusable cutlery. the BYO cutlery movement seems to be taking off.
I carry my utensils around in my backpack.
There is a broader commitment to phasing out single-use plastic bags and polystyrene foam food containers, as well as straws as an "on-demand" product.
Plastic cutlery remains particularly difficult to replace on a large scale. Problem spots include facilities with limited dishwashing capacity and prisons, where more pliable, less dangerous options are needed.
Texas Tech professor Chris Whitmore said, "When plastic is everywhere and ingested by everything, the only direction to go is to reduce it."
