I spent the past weekend with my daughter and another girl from her Girl Scout troop at a very popular horse camp in the area. We got rained on, we slept in bunk beds, we tried to get Very Large Animals to do what we wanted them to do, we petted baby goats, walked in the mud, and generally had a great time. All in all it was a very fun weekend.
My one disappointment was when we walked into the dining hall Friday night. The food was fine, but I was dismayed to see that every meal was served on a throwaway styrofoam plate and that we were to pick up plastic utensils and styrofoam cups on our way back to our seats after going through the serving line. 100 people times six meals = at least 600 plates, cups, forks, spoons and knives would be thrown away over the course of the weekend.
I have developed an aversion to throwing things away. Some of this comes naturally, but it has been amplified after reading Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, by Elizabeth Royte. More on this book in another post, but suffice it to say that reading it heightened my sensibilities about what goes in the trash.
But wait! I remembered that I still had a reusable water cup in the car that I’d brought for the drive up, and tucked away in an inner zipper pocket of my purse back in our cabin was a bamboo Spork. The spork was an impulse buy at a local environmental store, but I never really used it. I usually forgot it was there when I was out somewhere that didn’t have reusable utensils, and besides, I felt a little self-conscious about whipping it out in public.
This would be its maiden voyage, however. For breakfast the next morning I came equipped with my reusable cup for coffee and my spork.
Camp breakfast with spork
It worked surprisingly well. I was able to eat all the camp food over the weekend with the spork, even using the side as a cutting surface for the hash browns and Sunday morning’s waffles. By washing both it and my coffee cup in the bathroom sink with hand soap after each meal I was able to divert five sets of utensils and at least five styrofoam cups from the landfill. Unfortunately that left the styrofoam plates (the small plates with donuts were on the table already when we sat down; otherwise I would have used one plate for everything) and styrofoam cups for soup.
Aluminum tart tins and #2 HDPE cereal bowls
I also diverted six mini tart pans and two disposable cereal containers from the landfill by rinsing them out and tossing in my backpack to take home (the cereal bowls are #2 HDPE plastic — highly recyclable, and the tins are aluminum).
Five sets of utensils does not sound like very much, and I wonder if it is worth it, but it was kind of fun using the spork. Not throwing things away has become kind of a game with me, so I had fun with it. And my daughter said she would use a spork with her school lunch if I got her one too, so that’s pretty cool.
A few questions come to mind when thinking about the camp weekend.
- Why is it so much harder to be mindful about our consumption and trash habits in a group?
- What do most camps do for serving meals? I have been to Girl Scout properties where very little was disposable, but I don’t have a lot of experience with other camps. If you do, please leave a comment.
- How long ago was it that people had their own set of utensils that they just carried with them when traveling? It’s probably been only since the Industrial Revolution that people had access to mass-produced utensils anyway.
- Do people in other countries use their own utensils more often than we do in the States?
As usual, every question seems to spark about ten more.
Now that I’ve christened my spork I will plan on using it more often. It will still probably feel weird when I use it in the presence of adults, but I felt that way the first time I started using reusable bags at the grocery 10 years ago and now it’s pretty much commonplace.
So, a few questions for you, Dear Reader:
Have you ever used a reusable spork? In public?
What was your experience? Were you self-conscious?
If you haven’t, before, would you use a reusable spork?
I see a great new industry here – spork holsters for the business person on the go. We have free belt space since the demise of the pager – this can take that place!
Hey, I think you’ve hit on something, Daniel! Plus then you can have quick draw contests to see who gets the last piece of cake
Good thoughts! I have wondered why we are less conscious in groups as well. Nice spork, btw! : )
Thanks for the comment. Perhaps some of our group behavior is that nobody wants to stick out, and so whatever is the norm is self-reinforcing. If enough people start bringing reusable utensils it could turn into the new norm, just the way reusable grocery bags are pretty normal now. There’s a thought!
I brought my own cloth napkin to my local cafe for a week as part of the No Impact Experiment ( http://noimpactproject.org/experiment/ ). I felt similarly self-conscious and stopped doing it almost as soon as the week-long experiment was over — and this is at a place that composts its trash.
Somehow I did feel a little less self-conscious during the week of the experiment, knowing that if anyone asked, I could say “I’m doing an experiment for a week to minimize my ecological footprint.” But after the week was over, I felt like I’d just be that oddball with the cloth napkin. Stupid, I know.
I never thought about bringing my own napkin – I might have to try that now. I know what you mean, though – it is awkward, and makes you feel like you stick out — something most of us try to avoid by human nature.
Amen Louise! I’ve been doing some occasional volunteer work with the Occupy Pittsburgh movement (our local version of Occupy Wall Street), and one of the things that really rankles me is that they’re primarily using disposable plates, utensils etc. in the camp. If the Girl Scouts and social justice protestors don’t care about recycling, what hope is there to get everyone else on board?
I do have a spork of my own (plastic, not bamboo), but I’ve never thought about carrying it around in my purse. I love to hike and always thought of the spork as a hiking accessory, but why not use it every day? Now if I could just find a way to squeeze a Tupperware down to purse-packable size so I could stop getting Styrofoam takeout containers…
Interesting observations, Anjali. But to give the Girl Scouts credit, whenever you camp at a Girl Scout property there are very thorough systems in place to ensure minimal waste. The horse camp is not a Girl Scout property — it just offers weekend programs especially for Girl Scouts during the year. In fact, the Scout training for camping and tenting emphasizes using reusable equipment and setting up wash stations, etc., which I touched on in a blog post on Thoughts Happen at http://www.thoughtshappen.net/2011/08/getting-into-the-zone-by-getting-out-of-my-comfort-zone-1.html
I’ll make a note to write a post about the Girl Scout law to Use Resources Wisely in an upcoming post.
Ah, good to know, that makes me feel a lot better. That’s the kind of system I remember from when I was a Scout, but I wasn’t sure if they still used it.
We’ve been using the Chico Bags for about a year now and we LOVE them. They’re very sdruty and they hold a LOT of stuff w/o stretching, ripping or tearing. Also, many grocery stores now offer rebates for using your own bags. By my calculations mine will be paid for (I got 5) in just a few more months.Check out our site later today for the long-awaited home-made laundry soap recipe. It’s phosphate and additive free and really cleans clothes well.
I totally agree, Nancy. I too have cmobee much more careful about what I throw away. To be honest, the condo complex I live in does not offer recycling services, mostly because there are 32 units, and only about a quarter of them are lived in full-time. Furthermore, we’ve had some problems with the property managers, and are going through some transition in that area. It was really weighing on me throughout the semester, so back in March I started recycling on my own, and driving it down the road to a recycling center. It was amaaazing how little trash I actually had once I started recycling! I go through one garbage bag about every 2 weeks! And now the boys that live below me (ND college students) also recycle! I think by this summer we will have the whole place recycling…and we’ll all be driving it where it needs to go (lots of dedication!) I have some pics, but I’m not sure how to upload them. In retrospect, I can’t believe how much I have learned from Royte’s book. It’s a topic and a perspective I never would have learned about and gained without this class.
Royte’s book, Garbage Land, is truly eye-opening. What class is it that you are taking?