PAPER PLATES & BOWLS & "What else....????

[Sourdough]

I could use some advice on Paper Plates & Bowls. For 4 years of SHTF survival tableware. I want good stuff that is stiff paper.

 

[Amish Heart]

We get the strong ones from Sams Club.

 

[kd4ulw]

The Sam’s paper bowls work well. I get their flimsier paper plates I believe it’s a package of 300, good deal for the price.

 

[Amish Heart]

We used to get the flimsier ones there for our school. Went through alot. The heavy duty ones were Chinet brand.

 

[Magus]

I get the crappy $ store ones and line real plates and bowls with them.
they'll never give up on you and you never have to wash.

Edit:
If you use old military trays and bowls (stainless) put a dab of bar soap or a bit of paraffin on it so it does not slip. candle fitting wax is great too, but hell to get off.

 

[Bacpacker]

We get the strong ones from Sams Club.

Same with us

 

[Sourdough]

Chinet brand

That is the brand I was trying to remember, thanks. There was a SAM'S CLUB in Anchorage, but they shut it down maybe ten years ago. I liked it because it opened at 7:AM if you had a business account. So, for me it is AMAZON or death by starvation.

 

[Peanut]

Not for nothing... plastic cups are handy also. Regular red Solo, 16oz. For years I thought I disliked washing dishes. By accident I discovered it was drinking glasses I hated to wash, not plates or silverware. I haven't drank from a glass at home in years. I buy the cups, usually drink water or lemonade. I just rinse them out, might use one for a couple days. Even then I don't toss them, rinse them good, dry and stack them. I save them for the gun range, make great targets.

Anyway, I can go 3 months without having to wash glasses for about $7, a bargain in my book.

 

[backlash]

I hate paper plates, bowls, and plastic cups.
More waste to go into the landfills.
First world problems.
Third world problem.

 

[Amish Heart]

We pull out the Chinet and plastic cups when we have family for dinner. The plastic cups are always washed and reused. Daily with just our family, we use regular plates.

 

[Caribou]

I burn my trash. Two ways to go with paper plates. Chinet by itself or get the cheap plates and use plate holders. P.S. Get the same size holder as your plates, or vice versa.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=paper+pl...per+plate+,aps,155&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_2_12

 

[Amish Heart]

Paper plates have gotten stupid expensive

 

[Weedygarden]

I have often wondered about how many people use disposable plates, etc. and why? It is only in the last year or so that I might use a paper plate for eating instead of my stoneware. This must go back to my days of being raised by grandparents, who always had little or no waste. I get not having to wash dishes, especially when there are extra people there. I have wicker holders for paper plates, but I also use two paper plates sometimes, and just toss the top one. I don't buy the cheapest paper plates, but mostly use the midgrade. Just this week I bought more. I want to have a good stack if and when water is unavailable.

I have a friend whose strategy for not having a lot of dishes to wash, was to not have a lot of dishes. She has one plate, bowl and cup for each person in the family. I had another friend who had few dishes, and when she moved into a place with a dishwasher, decided she didn't have enough dishes to use it.

 

[backlash]

Sorry, I was going OT again.

 

[Magus]

I hate paper plates, bowls, and plastic cups.
More waste to go into the landfills.
First world problems.
Third world problem.

I take it you don't burn your paper plates after dinner.
Mother nature eats them up quick too BUT...
I'm with you on plastic though, you can smell the PCBs
and BHPs o0o0o0ozing out of them when you put hot
food in one.

 

[Sourdough]

I have often wondered about how many people use disposable plates, etc. and why? It is only in the last year or so that I might use a paper plate for eating instead of my stoneware. This must go back to my days of being raised by grandparents, who always had little or no waste. I get not having to wash dishes, especially when there are extra people there. I have wicker holders for paper plates, but I also use two paper plates sometimes, and just toss the top one. I don't buy the cheapest paper plates, but mostly use the midgrade. Just this week I bought more. I want to have a good stack if and when water is unavailable.

I have a friend whose strategy for not having a lot of dishes to wash, was to not have a lot of dishes. She has one plate, bowl and cup for each person in the family. I had another friend who had few dishes, and when she moved into a place with a dishwasher, decided she didn't have enough dishes to use it.

I don't use them. I'll likely buy 400 or 500 good heavy duty paper plates, and same amount of same quality bowls, and I will never use them, till six or ten years into a catastrophic worldwide SHTF event.

 

[Woody]

Similar plans here. I had 8 large bundles of the cheap, flimsy paper plates in storage. Plan was to use them if water ever became an issue. Just use a regular plate to hold then and I put the used paper plates right into the compost. It isn’t like they have an expiration date or will deteriorate in storage.. Unless they get wet of course.

I also had two boxes of the plastic wrapped plastic silverware, most with a napkin and salt/pepper. When I was corporate cube farm boy there was a lot of grab and go takeout, or they would bring meals in for working late kind of projects. There were always stacks of them left, and I would be the one to grab a few before heading home! I will have to admit, those I had no real disposal method planned out. I guess I figured if I ever had to use them, that would be the least of my worries.

 

[Bacpacker]

We use a few plates from time to time. Been using more since the wife has been laid up. They get composted and don't last long there.
I keep stacks on hand for use in bad times to save on water. Also keep a few bundles of red solo cups and a box of plastic silverware. Those are for hard times only

 

[Tootsie]

Paper plates have gotten stupid expensive

Paper plates are not made in America anymore. Now the company that made them has its employees unloading containers from other countries to then send to Walmart, Costco, etc. My husband just noticed the difference on where stuff is coming in from at the local regional distribution center.
China, in case you were wondering.

 

[Spikedriver]

I use the cheapo paper plates from Walmart when I make burgers. I figure it's not worth dirtying a dish for a burger.

I got started using foam bowls and plastic silverware for breakfast when I started going out on the road. Now I use them at home too. Screw handwashing after breakfast. I buy the big packages of foam bowls and plastic spoons at dollar general. It costs me a few bucks every few months.

 

[Weedygarden]

I know this seems off topic. One thing I think of is the evolution of dishes and use in the world. Days were and maybe still are for some people that a piece of wood is a plate. Royalty and nobility probably had the first ceramic dishes and metal dishes.

When I asked why people use paper plates, it may have sounded judgmental. I understand why people use them, but am curious about situations. I have been kind of slow to start using them with any regularity. Yes, I want a bunch for when water to wash anything might be an issue. I eat a lot of soup in the winter or when it is cooler outside, always use stoneware for durability sake, but I think having disposable bowls is not a bad idea.

Relative to this, a few months ago we had a work day at church. What did the women do? They removed all the ceramic dishes from the kitchen. Those dishes haven't been used since who knows when. The membership at church is mostly retired people, many in their 80's and a few in their 90's and even if it wasn't, who would want to do a bunch of dishes? The kitchen is in desperate need of an upgrade, and if it had a decent dishwasher, instead of just human dishwashers, the issue of those ceramic dishes wouldn't have been such a big deal. There were two styles of dishes, and perhaps one style was used for some types of events. Someone told me that there were probably no dishes in one group that were not chipped. Dishes were taken to Goodwill. There were at least 100 place settings.

Relative to paper plates and bowls, I also have plastic ware that I purchased for use when we did special meals at school. I also have a couple extra sets of tableware (not silverware, but stainless) that I purchased at yard sales and used with regularity in my classroom. Set up 3 bins for dishwashing: soapy, rinse, disinfecting. Each child washed their own, and some really enjoyed it, believe it or not.

 

[Peanut]

I have 6sq ft of counter space. Its fine if I'm warming something in a microwave. But not good if I'm cooking a meal from scratch. I don't even have room to put dirty pots or pans other than the sink (and the oven). For example, if I'm frying catfish or chicken I use paper plates for dredging, pour out cornmeal fry batter, the moment I'm done breading I can toss the plates in the trash freeing up that space for the next step in cooking. The same for resting a steak or burgers, set a paper plate under the rack. Then toss it, I don't have to scrub a greasy plate afterwards or find a place to set it.

I use the cheapo "paper" paper plates. Several stores have these and a heavy duty version. The HD plates are just 2 of the regular plates stuck together. They separate easily so I buy them. I can use a single or a double plate, depending on how wet, greasy or messy the job.

 

[backlash]

I went to a restaurant once and they had wooden plates. I asked them how they know the playes were clean and germ free. They said the wash them like everything else. I read later they failed their health inspection because of the plates. I never went back. The business failed.

 

[Magus]

I'm a fan of stainless bowls, they sell them in the pet section in any store.
Dump them in a bucket of soapy water overnight, rinse them off with boiling water.

 

[Supervisor42]

Paper plates are not made in America anymore. Now the company that made them has its employees unloading containers from other countries to then send to Walmart, Costco, etc. My husband just noticed the difference on where stuff is coming in from at the local regional distribution center.
China, in case you were wondering.

Respectfully disagree.
We use them for every meal so you got me curious, and I had to check ours.
Our Dixie® paper plates and bowls are made in the USA by Georgia-Pacific:
60 seconds and you can see it here:
https://news.gp.com/2020/08/how-we-make-plates
I did a ton of work for them 'back in the day', so they still owe me .

 

[Peanut]

Just did some checking, GP employs over 2000 people here in bama. They used to own big tracts of timber, don't know if that's true now. They don't have any close to me. (I sometimes, accidentally, trespass on timber company lands while out hunting medicinal plants )

From the net... Georgia-Pacific operates under many different brand names.

Angel Soft and Quilted Northern are toilet paper and facial tissue brands.

Sparkle and Brawny are paper towel brands.

Mardi Gras and Vanity Fair are napkin brands.

Dixie Insulair, PerfecTouch, and Ultra are tableware brands.

 

[Supervisor42]

Just did some checking, GP employs over 2000 people here in bama. They used to own big tracts of timber, don't know if that's true now. They don't have any close to me. (I sometimes, accidentally, trespass on timber company lands while out hunting medicinal plants )

From the net... Georgia-Pacific operates under many different brand names.

Angel Soft and Quilted Northern are toilet paper and facial tissue brands.

Sparkle and Brawny are paper towel brands.

Mardi Gras and Vanity Fair are napkin brands.

Dixie Insulair, PerfecTouch, and Ultra are tableware brands.

Yes, their plants are all over Alabama, I can testify to that first-hand. (and that is just in Bama)
And they do a lot more than just paper. Buy some plywood, particle-board, or lumber.
You will find GP everywhere.
Don't let this thread go quiet or I will spin a funny 'war-story' from years ago about how things work in the real-world.

 

[Peanut]

This info will affect which paper plates or bowls I use in the future.. now that I know which items give my neighbor's jobs. They employ 2200 directly. I got several cousins who have their own logging companies and they sometimes haul wood to Georgia Pacific facilities.

 

[Supervisor42]

This info will affect which paper plates or bowls I use in the future.. now that I know which items give my neighbor's jobs. They employ 2200 directly. I got several cousins who have their own logging companies and they sometimes haul wood to Georgia Pacific facilities.

Going off topic, GP plywood:

GP lumber:

On topic, GP paper plates:

Have some supper... on them.

 

[Tootsie]

Respectfully disagree.
We use them for every meal so you got me curious, and I had to check ours.
Our Dixie® paper plates and bowls are made in the USA by Georgia-Pacific:
60 seconds and you can see it here:
https://news.gp.com/2020/08/how-we-make-plates
I did a ton of work for them 'back in the day', so they still owe me .

The brands that changed are Hefty and store brands, a major line. Pactiv Evergreen imports. If the package you looked at is from them and says US, it’s old stock. And it’s possible/probable that it will be the display that will say made in China in small print on the bottom of the display and not very clearly stated on the units sold. 40 years of employment at this distribution center. It is so. But, I am not speaking for Dixie. Just the brand that supplies the wholesale clubs, big box stores, and many outlets.