I’ve noticed it’s quite common in the states to use paper plates and throw them away after use. Never seen this happen in the rest of the world, except I think once in a documentary about a woman with some form of OCD.
EDIT: apologies when I said ‘common in the US’ I meant more common than other countries. Like it doesn’t happen at all in the U.K., but I’ve seen a few people in the states do it.
EDIT 2:
I think what I’ve learnt from this thread is that there is a group of people who do exclusively use paper plates, and they do it for convenience.
Then there’s people who use them more conventionally and who deny the existence of the first group.
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Purely because I’m lazy and dishes are the bane of my existence
We rarely use paper unless we are at the park.
I only see them used at parties. Nobody has the time, space, or energy to keep and clean dozens of real plates, which the kids (and some adults) at said parties will just break anyway. For ordinary meals, Americans have ordinary reusable ceramic plates like everyone else.
People use paper plates for casual parties and large, outdoor gatherings. Most do not use paper plates on a daily basis.
>I’ve noticed it’s quite common in the states to use paper plates and throw them away after use.
Unless it’s some kind of larger, casual gathering, it really isn’t.
In what context did you observe this?
I only use paper plates if we are having a bunch of people over to eat in a casual setting like outdoor cookout. Easier to just serve people on disposable plates and throw them all away rather than going through like 100% of my real plates in a single day.
I eat off my regular plates like 99.9% of the time.
paper plates are usually for parties, tailgates, or outdoor activities. regular plates are for everyday meals at home.
It’s actually not very common. For most people, paper plates are for large casual parties and picnics. Otherwise, we wash and reuse our dishes like every else.
We use paper plates for large social gatherings. Thanksgivings at my grandmother’s house got to be huge – nearly a hundred people would show up. Who has 100 ceramic dinner plates?
> Never seen this happen in the rest of the world,
Could we please have a bot reminding Europeans that their neighborhood isn’t the rest of the world?
I cook for 3 at most on the regular. Disposable or temporary dishware makes sense when one doesn’t want to use up storage space “just in case I’m entertaining 10+ people, lol”. Obviously.
I use paper plates because I don’t have a dishwasher and I hate washing my dishes by hand haha
Someone else from the UK posted this question a year or so ago, and also said something like “it doesn’t happen at all in the UK”. I was able to find paper plates for sale on every UK grocery store website I could find. Based on the fact that paper plates are widely sold in the UK, and that retailers don’t normally take up shelf space with things that nobody buys, it appears that people DO use paper plates in the UK, at least on occasion. And I would say “on occasion” is the same rate that I’ve seen them used in the US. Would it be more fair to say that just because you’ve never seen it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen?
It’s hard cause I know it’s wasteful, but I fucking love paper plates. If I have to cook two meals and pack lunches daily, that’s a hell of a lot of dishes. At least by having paper plates and utensils I can do all my dishes while I’m cooking, and not have to wash plates on top of that.
It is only common if you are hosting a large party or other big event. Otherwise dishes you wash and reuse are the norm.
As for your edit, how do you know it does not happen at all in the UK? Did you interview everyone?
Because it probably happens in your own country as well but you ignore that to hyperfixate on the US and what Americans supposedly do wrong.
Your premise is deeply flawed and reflects a fundamental ignorance of the topic at hand.
When I was in the UK I knew several Brits who used paper exclusively. It’s no more common here than over there.
It’s pretty rare that I’ll use them. Although staying at my mother in law’s house I’ll use them pretty often. Mainly just so I don’t have to wash them. And my mother-in-law doesn’t give us much time to eat. So we can just take them wherever. Or of course at big parties I actually do have a large stack of them. Different sizes and colors. I’ll sometimes use them for takeout instead of putting the food on a normal plate. If I already cleaned my sink and don’t want to use it anymore.
Because they’re cheap and I hate doing dishes, haha.
If I’m just warming up something in the microwave I use a paper plate, but if I’m actually cooking a meal I use a regular plate
I do this. I had a depressive episode last year and the only way I was going to get my kitchen clean again was by just throwing everything dirty out. So I did. That left me with two bowls, a pan, and a butter knife. I replaced the flatware but I’m still using paper plates just to keep what I have to clean down to a minimum.
I’ve rarely seen people use paper plates outside of large parties or picnics and things like that. I don’t think it’s common to use them often but I’m sure some people do. Also I would hope ppl would throw them away after using them.
It’s a lot easier to throw away a paper plate than wash a ceramic one.
Just because you saw paper doesn’t mean they don’t also own ceramic ones. I do.
Ceramic make more sense where it’s too formal to use paper or you have a large family and can justify running the dishwasher every day. I live with one other person and by the time the dishwasher would be full and ready to run, the oldest plates would have been drying out for several days and the overall expense of paper is less.
Many Americans have enough friends and space for large parties, and disposable plates and flatware is much quicker to clean up in such cases.
> Like it doesn’t happen at all in the U.K.
Of course it does, otherwise paper plates wouldn’t be sold in the UK.
> Never seen this happen in the rest of the world
Your world must be fascinating. It seems you live entirely in an exaggeration.
We use them for parties and such, but to be honest the only time I ever experienced people using disposable plates on the regular was with two different girls I dated families. One of them was an immigrant family and the other ones mother just flat ass out wasn’t much of a homemaker
For most people, paper plates are for cookouts and picnics in the park and the like. For a large get together, using paper plates saves you from having to clean ~20 plates*. For a picnic, they are lightweight and you can leave them on site in a bin.
*you still get to clean the grill, the serving dishes (enjoy scrubbing the caramelized molasses from that baked beans dish), the serving spoons, cups and glasses**
** unless you use the Red Solo Cups! But alas, that is another thread.
EDIT – if you’re seeing it TV and movies, it’s usually used as an indication the character is supposed to be a Seth Rogan slacker type. Conversely, it might be an attempt to show someone is super duper busy and has no time for doing dishes.
So you might have a 30 something eating cold pizza from last night in a paper plate as he fires up his play station or a partner at a law firm throwing a kale and wheat berry muffin on a paper plate at 0600 as they head in for a 16 hour day.
They’re cheap and easy to clean. Also the vast majority often people have ceramic plates
It’s common only for large gatherings usually. Potlucks, get togethers for barbecue, office parties.
It’s mainly convenience. No dishes to wash afterwards.
I do have one friend that uses paper plates more day to day, but she’s in the minority
I’ve met one man in my entire life travelling the country and eating the entire time who *almost* exclusively uses paper plates at home.
I keep some around for if all the regular plates are dirty and I don’t feel like doing dishes
>I’ve noticed it’s quite common in the states to use paper plates and throw them away after use.
It is? Funny, I’ve never noticed that. I must not have been paying attention.
I use paper plates for convenience sometimes for pizza or sandwiches.
In my experience, paper plates are only used for large events, like parties or cookouts. Sometimes when we’ve ordered a large amount of food for takeout to bring somewhere other than home, we’ve been given paper plates and cups. I’ve never been to anyone’s house where they served a regular meal on paper plates (not saying they don’t exist though.)
Out of curiosity, do British people haul a bunch of dirty plates home after outdoor events since they don’t use paper plates apparently?
There are two reasons you will see paper plates:
1. It’s a temporary plate issued by the state while the owner of the car is waiting for a special vanity plate or to get back to their home state where they will register the car
2. It’s fake and is being used illegally to evade registration costs and tolls