#DitchTheDisposable – an eco-experiment at a home birthday party!

Everybody knows (do they?) that plastic is not good for the planet. And there is so much focus on plastics that it is nauseating…from every little thing of packaging to how we carry our office tiffin! Heck…we even replaced some of our shampoo brands at home with shampoo bars from Earthy Sapo. And the fact that it reminds me of the "Shikakai bar" we used to use as kids for headwash during our childhood days in Gujarat is an added benefit. We used to call it "mathu dhovano sabu" those days 🙂
Having said that, the focus on saving the planet should extend beyond just the plastics. Most of the single-use stuff we use, from the toilet tissues, to disposable utensils, are never recycled, and ultimately end up in either the landfills or the oceans, where their glorious colours and chemicals leech into the environment, damaging it. And did I mention that many of these bio-degradable things are made from trees in the first place?
At home, for my kid’s birthday party, V bounced the idea off me to completely Ditch The Disposables. Essentially, we will not use any disposable stuff, and the primary issue was crockery. We inquired with a friend, who was also an invitee, and she happily supported us by promptly sending us her two sets of Corelle dinner sets. We had enough cutlery at home so we were good. The only problem was convincing the restaurant that delivered the food to send it in steel reusable containers. We promised that we will empty out the contents in our utensils and return back their containers, but that business-model does not work for them due to the intermediary involved (Zomato, Swiggy). So, in the end, the only disposable stuff we had was the containers in which the food was sent by the restaurants.
And, did I say that all the leftover food was gainfully consumed as well? Most of it was donated to the maids the next day, and some was happily used by us.
A long way to go still…but one small step by a small family at a time…