One Disposable Item I Think We Could All Use Less Of

Plastic utensils.

Yes, I'm coming for the forks.

Think about how often we receive plastic utensils we didn't even ask for.

Order takeout? Fork.

Grab lunch? Fork.

Food delivery? Fork, knife, spoon, napkin, and approximately 37 condiment packets.

Sometimes they're necessary.

But a surprising amount of the time, they're not.

A Few Minutes of Use

Disposable utensils are a perfect example of our complicated relationship with convenience.

They're designed to perform a job for a very short period of time.

Eat lunch.

Throw them away.

Repeat tomorrow.

One fork doesn't seem particularly significant. But multiply that pattern across millions of meals, workplaces, restaurants, schools, events, and deliveries.

Suddenly, "just one fork" becomes a lot of forks.

The Swap Is Pretty Easy

Reusable utensils aren't exactly revolutionary technology.

We already own them.

At home, simply decline disposable utensils when ordering delivery if you don't need them.

For meals away from home, consider keeping a reusable utensil set in your purse, backpack, desk, lunch bag, or car.

And if you forget sometimes?

Welcome to being human.

This isn't about creating a perfect streak.

It's about turning something disposable from the automatic choice into the occasional choice.

So yes, I'm starting with the plastic fork.

It had a good run.