GRUB'S UP
‘It’s the height of laziness’ mum blasts as more parents adopt ‘fun’ American meal-time habit to save on washing up
Other parents hit back and said they have plenty of reasons to adopt the trend
MEAL time can be pretty stressful when you've got kids, so having the best cutlery and dishes might not be at the top of every parent's list.
But one mum has slammed other parents for adopting a habit she reckons is "the height of laziness."
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The mum slammed parents for using paper plates, something she thought there's no excuse for - even if it saves on washing up.
But not everyone agreed with her harsh comment, which was shared on Mumsnet.
"I keep seeing reels and videos of people, mostly (if not all) Americans serving up dinner on either polystyrene plates or paper plates," the mum wrote on the forum recently.
"Am I being unreasonable to think that's laziness/time saving/convenience too far?
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As far as the mum was concerned most of the people using paper plates have "decent kitchens so presumably can house a dishwasher."
"Not that hard, nor time consuming to stack plates. Disposable tableware for day to day dining seems the height of laziness," she continued.
People were left divided over her comment, with many arguing that you can't know someone's circumstances from a short social media clip of them dishing up dinner.
But others agreed the paper plate trend is pretty lazy, and one even said: "I agree - its awful, and there are loads of videos with people showing their 'hacks' on storing them."
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Another took a more environmental approach, and pointed out that disposable plates are very wasteful.
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They said: "Terrible for the environment and I judge it as lazy and selfish."
"Unless there is is a good reason such as having no water to wash up or no arms, I think its quite disgusting that people would do this.
"So b***dy wasteful and we supposedly care about these things," another added.
But someone else hit back that the whole point of paper plates is to be lazy.
"I use paper plates on a semi regular basis when I can't be ar**d with dishes, it is lazy, that's the point," they said.
Another replied: "Genuinely asking how does it affect your life? I mean if they're lazy, then so be it.
"What do you get out of it by them being lazy?"
Others pointed out the time parents save by not washing dishes and using paper plates can be used on other things, like playing with their kids.
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"Why would I wash dishes when I've already got one million other things to do? No thanks," someone wrote.
According to a study based on the U.S. Census data and Simmons National Consumer Survey (NHCS), 219.73 million Americans used disposable cups and plates in 2020, and that figure is only set to increase.
So, it's no wonder the mum is seeing more and more people opt for paper plates.
But someone noted that they don't have to be so bad for the environment.
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They wrote: "I get biodegradable ones and chuck them in the composter.
"I don't drive, I don't go on long haul (or even short haul) flights, I buy second hand where I can, have deliberately reduced my plastic use to about half what it was over the last year."
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