We had a number of family members in town recently for a little get-together. One day before they arrived, our dishwasher ran its last cycle — and I don’t mean for that load. No, this was the end of the road for our dishwasher, one that was less than 4 years old. Surely, it could be repaired, we thought. And, surely, the repairman told us it could — but at a cost that made more sense to buy a new one. Such is the throw-away society we now live in.
Even without a working dishwasher, we somehow survived. We simply reacquainted ourselves with the dishcloths, the hand towels and an array of scrubbers we found under the sink. Wash. Rinse. Dry. Put away. Those were the tasks my siblings and I did in front of the kitchen sink after every meal in our childhood home. Those memories reintroduced themselves this past weekend — and they brought a few more with them.
To minimize the number of dishes we would have to wash, we broke out the “paper plates.” Yes, the flimsy disposable tableware that seemed to be in every home a few decades ago but now is often relegated to picnics and parties.
The inventor of the paper plate was a New Hampshire man named Martin Keyes. He was trying to make a pie plate out of “molded pulp” and, in 1904, acquired a patent for this paper plate-making machine. His paper plates were becoming quite popular, especially due to a new demand caused by fires and earthquakes in San Francisco. Next he produced egg cartons, bottle packs, light bulb packaging and more. Keyes’ company still exists today, known for producing the Chinet brand of disposable products.
Today, paper plates and related products come in a variety of materials —paper, paperboard, corrugated fiberboard and Styrofoam (gasp!). Some are coated — mostly with plastic — to improve the fight to withstand liquids or grease from soaking through. And, some are better at this than others.
My mom was the frugal type. Spending extra money on those fancy coated paper plates was wasteful, in her mind. So, she bought the 500-packs of the uncoated, 9-inch plates that most everything soaked through to the point where the plates would collapse. As such, we would use several plates, often not by choice because they stuck together. Fortunately, today, my wife opts for the upgraded versions, which came in handy this past weekend with our dishwasher dilemma.
In recent years, environmental concerns made many people switch from paper products back to traditional dishes. Overall, that is probably a good thing, even though paper plates are made with molded pulp, which is created with recycled newsprint. As such, those of you who have concerns about newspapers forcing their opinions down your throat may be right. Because, if you are using paper plates, they still kind of are.
Have a great week, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305 |
