5 ms·

Why not: Fast food: metal cutlery at the restaurant that gets washed and reused. Take away: your own cutlery at home.

by incog-neato 8y ago

randyrand 8y ago
And if you're on the go? Eating as a passenger in a car, etc.
- ocdtrekkie 8y ago
  I can fathom having a portable case for a set of silverware, that you clean when you get home.
  - randyrand 8y ago
    In the future we'll just walk around with silverware and a cup at all times.
    - theklub 8y ago
      Actually you might be onto a new market, creating forks that you bring with you everywhere like a pocket knife.
      - jtuente 8y ago
        I wouldn't call camping supplies a new market so much as repurposed.
      - zaarn 8y ago
        A pocketknife already doubles as a fork.
      - jpindar 8y ago
        They exist, and some of them don't look at all like camping equipment. https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Pen-Shape-Stainless-Folding-Chopsticks/dp/B00NPV9XV8/ref=sr_1_18?keywords=folding&qid=1553801766&s=kitchen&sr=1-18 https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Pen-Shape-Stainless-Folding-...
      - 0db532a0 8y ago
        Medieval Europeans would dine with knives alone, and were expected to bring their own to the table. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-knives https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-knives
    - ocdtrekkie 8y ago
      I mean, as long as so many of us are driving our own cars everywhere anyways, it's not like we don't have a place to put it...
  - jpindar 8y ago
    They exist. https://www.amazon.com/Tableware-Camping-Tools-Portable-Multitool-Stainless/dp/B07G16NBY2/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=folding&qid=1553801518&s=kitchen&sr=1-12 https://www.amazon.com/Tableware-Camping-Tools-Portable-Mult... I've heard it's not unusual in some places for people to do this with chopsticks. https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Stainless-Folding-Chopsticks-Keyring/dp/B00G3ZMZ0O/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=folding&qid=1553801518&s=kitchen&sr=1-10 https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Stainless-Folding-Chopsticks...
- incog-neato 8y ago
  When it's not possible to sit down and enjoy your meal outside of the car, which I understand happens, then bamboo cutlery may be offered.
- znpy 8y ago
  > And if you're on the go? Eating as a passenger in a car, etc. Maybe eat food that does not require cutlery ?
- danet 8y ago
  EDIT: I want to make my point sound less harsh Part of reducing environmental damage is changing everyone's behaviour, and maybe considering eating in the car not being a good thing for several reasons, one of which is environmental impact.
- ddebernardy 8y ago
  If you're able to bring your re-usable bag to a store or pay extra for a new one, perhaps you can also bring your own cutlery when you eat on the go or pay extra for some wooden ones?
  - usrusr 8y ago
    > or pay extra for some wooden ones Even if it was plastic: at least you'd get a chance to say no. Of all the single use food utensils handed over counters, a considerable fraction isn't even wanted by the customer and only accepted because denying would be extra effort for both sides.
amyjess 8y ago
And what if you have motor control issues that makes it impossible to wash cutlery to any standard of cleanliness? I've said it before, and I've said it again: these anti-plastic laws are actively hostile to people with disabilities.
- 24gttghh 8y ago
  They make compostable plastic utensils now, along with wooden ones. We should use those instead if we really need something disposable.
- incog-neato 8y ago
  Please tone down the language here. I'm not for hostility against people with disabilities. However, keep in mind this is a small fraction of people and does not justify single-use plastics. There's more discussion of alternative materials in other branches of this post.
- dashundchen 8y ago
  Which is easier to do? A) Figuring out how to deal with the external effects of single-use plastic for 500+ million people or B) Asking a very small fraction of those 500+ million people with motor control issues who also use single use plastic to use alternatives, of which there are many - including paper, bamboo, and regular cutlery
  - Mirioron 8y ago
    Here's what's going to happen: everyone ignores the issue and the disabled have to figure out a solution for their own drop in quality of life.
- tzs 8y ago
  That's interesting. I have no experience with motor control issues, so that comes as a complete surprise to me. Eating involves fine manipulation of the cutlery to load it with food, and then hitting a relatively small target surrounded by things that you really don't want to, say, stab with a fork if you miss that target. I'd have expected that if one has good enough motor control for that, washing cutlery in the sink or a dishwasher would not be a problem, as all the movements required for washing seem to require less accuracy and consistency than do those for eating with the cutlery. So, clearly, I'm missing something about the mechanics of motor control. Is it because almost all movements involve several different muscles, and so that if one has different levels of control issue with different one that you can get some movements are impossible even though they don't require much precision, and others are possible, even with tight constraints, because even though they involve the same body parts, they differ in the contribution required of each muscle?

Why not: Fast food: metal cutlery at the restaurant that gets washed and reused. Take away: your own cutlery at home.

randyrand 8y ago

And if you're on the go? Eating as a passenger in a car, etc.

ocdtrekkie 8y ago
I can fathom having a portable case for a set of silverware, that you clean when you get home.
- randyrand 8y ago
  In the future we'll just walk around with silverware and a cup at all times.
  - theklub 8y ago
    Actually you might be onto a new market, creating forks that you bring with you everywhere like a pocket knife.
    - jtuente 8y ago
      I wouldn't call camping supplies a new market so much as repurposed.
    - zaarn 8y ago
      A pocketknife already doubles as a fork.
    - jpindar 8y ago
      They exist, and some of them don't look at all like camping equipment. https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Pen-Shape-Stainless-Folding-Chopsticks/dp/B00NPV9XV8/ref=sr_1_18?keywords=folding&qid=1553801766&s=kitchen&sr=1-18 https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Pen-Shape-Stainless-Folding-...
    - 0db532a0 8y ago
      Medieval Europeans would dine with knives alone, and were expected to bring their own to the table. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-knives https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-knives
  - ocdtrekkie 8y ago
    I mean, as long as so many of us are driving our own cars everywhere anyways, it's not like we don't have a place to put it...
- jpindar 8y ago
  They exist. https://www.amazon.com/Tableware-Camping-Tools-Portable-Multitool-Stainless/dp/B07G16NBY2/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=folding&qid=1553801518&s=kitchen&sr=1-12 https://www.amazon.com/Tableware-Camping-Tools-Portable-Mult... I've heard it's not unusual in some places for people to do this with chopsticks. https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Stainless-Folding-Chopsticks-Keyring/dp/B00G3ZMZ0O/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=folding&qid=1553801518&s=kitchen&sr=1-10 https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Stainless-Folding-Chopsticks...
incog-neato 8y ago
When it's not possible to sit down and enjoy your meal outside of the car, which I understand happens, then bamboo cutlery may be offered.
znpy 8y ago
> And if you're on the go? Eating as a passenger in a car, etc. Maybe eat food that does not require cutlery ?
danet 8y ago
EDIT: I want to make my point sound less harsh Part of reducing environmental damage is changing everyone's behaviour, and maybe considering eating in the car not being a good thing for several reasons, one of which is environmental impact.
ddebernardy 8y ago
If you're able to bring your re-usable bag to a store or pay extra for a new one, perhaps you can also bring your own cutlery when you eat on the go or pay extra for some wooden ones?
- usrusr 8y ago
  > or pay extra for some wooden ones Even if it was plastic: at least you'd get a chance to say no. Of all the single use food utensils handed over counters, a considerable fraction isn't even wanted by the customer and only accepted because denying would be extra effort for both sides.

amyjess 8y ago

And what if you have motor control issues that makes it impossible to wash cutlery to any standard of cleanliness? I've said it before, and I've said it again: these anti-plastic laws are actively hostile to people with disabilities.

24gttghh 8y ago
They make compostable plastic utensils now, along with wooden ones. We should use those instead if we really need something disposable.
incog-neato 8y ago
Please tone down the language here. I'm not for hostility against people with disabilities. However, keep in mind this is a small fraction of people and does not justify single-use plastics. There's more discussion of alternative materials in other branches of this post.
dashundchen 8y ago
Which is easier to do? A) Figuring out how to deal with the external effects of single-use plastic for 500+ million people or B) Asking a very small fraction of those 500+ million people with motor control issues who also use single use plastic to use alternatives, of which there are many - including paper, bamboo, and regular cutlery
- Mirioron 8y ago
  Here's what's going to happen: everyone ignores the issue and the disabled have to figure out a solution for their own drop in quality of life.
tzs 8y ago
That's interesting. I have no experience with motor control issues, so that comes as a complete surprise to me. Eating involves fine manipulation of the cutlery to load it with food, and then hitting a relatively small target surrounded by things that you really don't want to, say, stab with a fork if you miss that target. I'd have expected that if one has good enough motor control for that, washing cutlery in the sink or a dishwasher would not be a problem, as all the movements required for washing seem to require less accuracy and consistency than do those for eating with the cutlery. So, clearly, I'm missing something about the mechanics of motor control. Is it because almost all movements involve several different muscles, and so that if one has different levels of control issue with different one that you can get some movements are impossible even though they don't require much precision, and others are possible, even with tight constraints, because even though they involve the same body parts, they differ in the contribution required of each muscle?