Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Day 87: Better than Disposable Dishware

Last weekend we hosted a potluck for nearly 45 people and it was great fun!  Lacking enough dishware to serve everyone, we had to decide what to do.  Ordinary disposable dishes are wasteful.   Eco-friendlier options, like dishes made from recycled products or compostable dishware are better than their originals, but still aren't great.  And they are pricey!

Luke had an idea that solved our problem and fit well with our goals and priorities (and budget!):  Go to the local thrift store where dishes are sold super cheap and stock up on white plates and bowls and mugs.  And, here's the best part: when we were all done, we just washed the dishes and returned them to the thrift store.  Yay!


I loved this solution!
  • It was cheap.  At 10 to 15 cents a dish, I paid a total of 6.50  for all the plates, bowls and mugs we needed to accommodate our large potluck.  That is cheaper than disposables!
  • It's environmentally friendly. Nothing to end up in a landfill!
  • It supports a good cause.  The thrift store we bought them from funds great community services.
  • It's nicer (and easier!) to eat off of a real plate than a paper one.
  • It adds no extra clutter to our house.  Everything has been taken back to the thrift store to be sold again and well used.
The guy behind me and my cart full of dinnerware at the second-hand store clearly thought I was insane. His child even turned to him and said "That is a lot of dishes..."  But when I turned around and politely explained what I was doing I think he decided I wasn't completely insane. I hope.
P.S.  While typing this up I remembered this infographic and giggled to myself a little bit.  

 We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, greener, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!

34 comments:

  1. What a great idea. As I was reading, I thought that you were going to ask everyone to bring their own! I like this idea much better!

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  2. I shouldn't be surprised now when you post something like this - but it just amazes me how like-minded we are!

    Our "wedding dishes" we're hand-me-downs (no registry) from my ILs. While lovely, they scream 80's. I told my husband someday I wanted to just buy all the plan while dishes from multiple thrift stores. They would all match - but all be unique in shape and style and - the best part - they'd be CHEAP!

    31 Days to Living a More Intentional Life
    www.ourfrontporchview.blogspot.com

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  3. Great idea assuming your local thrift sells them that cheap. Mine does not. And hey, why don't people bring their own dishes for potlucks? I remember my mom doing that all the time as a kid.

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  4. Cheaper than disposable. I can't argue with that!

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  5. That is so smart! We had 30 people at our house over the weekend and I battled over whether to use disposables or not. I knew that I shouldn't because of the waste, but we have a total of 12 plates and I didn't want to wash that many dishes afterwards. This idea solves the first problem and I need to change my heart and attitude to deal with the second ;) Thanks and have a great week!
    -Sandy

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  6. Great idea, but mostly amazed that you had a 45 people party! :) Wow! :)
    Did you somehow arrange who brings what for the potluck?
    Ieva

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  7. Your house must be huge to fit 45 people. We max out at 12 but even that is crowded and DH and I end up standing or sitting on the floor. It must be lovely to have a house full of family and friends!

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    1. Hi Lucy! Our house isn't huge at all. We pushed the furniture all back out of the way and left the front door open so that the party is both indoors and out. It was crowded, but not uncomfortable. :)

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  8. very smart. and cheaper than the eco-friendly options we have at our local grocery store.

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  9. I love this idea! Thanks for sharing!

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  10. Never thought of that!!! I don't think our thrift store would be QUITE so cheap but you're totally right, just not having them up in landfill is worth the extra couple dollars it would cost over disposables. LOVE this idea!

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  11. We had a dinner party of similar size, and I thought about buying plates, etc, at the thrift store, but, then, opted for asking people to bring their own "picnic set." Many people forgot, and worse, some people brought disposable plates, which, kind of, defeated the whole purpose of having them bring their own - which was to reduce the waste at the party. Next time, I think I'll go this route and buy a bunch of extra at the thrift store so that all of the dishes are reusable rather than disposable ;).

    As others have said - good idea ;).

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  12. Great idea! Can I make a suggestion? If you happen to get your hands on any plain white
    Corelle plates, you may want to hang onto those. They are virtually indestructable, and a 12 plate stack is only 2 1/2 inches high. I have accumulated about 30 over the years and use them every day, holidays included.

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  13. Such a fantastic idea! I keep a set of white dinner plates for holidays but your idea is even better.

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  14. I love this idea. My only down side is that all my local thrift stores all seem to charge atleast $1 per plate and at 45 plates that would really add up. :( I think for now I own more plates than I could fit people in our apartment between our everyday plates and our casual wedding china. I will definitely keep this idea in mind when we get a house though. :)

    Brittny

    Bsnovelwritingblog.blogspot.com

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  15. What a great idea! I wonder how much the thrift stores in our area charge for dishes....I'll have to pay closer attention to that. I know there is a Bibles for Missions store in my hometown that gives money to a great cause, and I've picked up utensils there before, so I'll have to check out their dishes now, too!

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  16. Brilliant! I so much appreciate that you're loving your family, the earth and your community all at the same time.

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  17. I love that infographic! Also, great thinking on the thrift store dinnerware!

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  18. I bet if you were buying that many a thrift store would give you a deal, especially if you let them know you were planning on bringing them back later on.

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  19. That's a great idea, but dishes aren't even close to that cheap at my local thrift stores. Wish they were!!!

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  20. I haven't quite done this with plates, but I have been accumulating silverware at rummage sales, garage sales, thrift stores. I no longer have to buy plastic silverware when we have parties, we just use my mismatched set. I agree with the comment about Corelle--I recently got rid of my Pfaltzgraff dishes in favor of Corelle-the same number of dishes takes up 1/3 the space!!!

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  21. What a brilliant idea and much cheaper than anything disposable! Our local thrifts sell plates for 99 cents each, so that idea wouldn't work for us. What I did the last time I hosted a large party was to borrow plates, stainless flatware and glasses from our church. We ran it all through dishwasher, boxed it up and took it back when we were done.

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  22. Such a great idea! Sometimes all that is necessary is a bit of creativity :)
    I just found your blog, and I am finding it very inspiring. Thank you!

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  23. I did this with childrens crockery from IKEA years ago so that when we have kids parties I am not buying and binning disposable plastic and paper plates and cups. I have 20 plates, bowls and beakers and I lend them to friends for their kids parties too. Because they are hard plastic it is much easier for kids too manage rather than the flimsy paper and plastic disposable ones when all their food rolls of onto the floor! They come in packs of 6 for about £1.80. we have definately had our moneys worth over the years and it feels great not to be sending disposable stuff to landfill too.

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  24. Amazing idea! Thanks for sharing.

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