An off topic eco-rant from me for a moment, if you don’t mind.
A recent news article suggested that we should ban plastic forks. The article went on to promote the use of bamboo forks instead. So instead of plastic forks washing up on our beaches, we’ll have bamboo forks. Whilst they might be slightly better for the environment than plastic, it’s still waste polluting our land and seas.
A much better alternative would be to carry a fork yourself, and use that instead when you want to eat out and not use your fingers. If it’s in a nice washable bag you can take it home and clean it properly. This would have tons less impact on the environment than using a different type of disposable fork.
The Four Rs are: reduce, reuse, repair, recycle.
So it’s always better to reduce the need for plastic forks. Are people so busy rushing about they can’t sit down and use a real fork? I don’t think using a real fork would have much impact, you’d just want to make sure you can carry it home to wash it without much trouble.
Being able to reuse a fork many times is much better for the environment than using a disposable fork.
Luckily I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Someone’s already got a set of cutlery in a lovely little neat bag. (Amazon link, I will earn a tiny tiny tiny amount of money if you click through and buy today)
It’s about the size of a pencil case, so will fit in most bags very easily. If you’re not likely to want all of the things in it then leave them at home to reduce weight. This set includes: Knife, Fork, Spoon, Chopsticks, Cleaning Brush, Straws, and the container to carry them in.
If you’ve already for a pretty washbag you could use that and just carry a few spoons and forks from the cutlery drawer at home.
There are sets out there that use bamboo and wheat straw cutlery, but this seems completely silly to me. We’re happy to use metal spoons at home and wash them, so why not consider this as a very simple eco-move you can make yourself to ensure you never use a plastic fork again.
If you’re off out for the day with your family then pack enough forks and spoons for everyone, and then in the same way as we say at the supermarket “No, I’ve bought my own bag thank you”, we’ll be able to say “No thank you, I don’t need a plastic fork, I’ve bought my own.”
It’s such a simple thing to do. Please consider adding a fork bag into your everyday bag.
There’s a huge range of travel cutlery at Amazon UK for you to look at.
