By Ria Vashishtha
Reduce, reuse, recycle. We have grown up with these words plastered on cafeteria stations, classroom doors, and the stained sides of every fastpacking dumpster. This constant reminder to stay “green” has stolen the most valuable resource from our trash cans. The small sporks and knives, perfect for digging into steaming piles of mac and cheese. The thin white cutlery stuffed in your take-out containers for convenience. The plastic utensils that shoot out of the tall, gray dispensers in our cafeteria, like prizes waiting to be claimed.
Our saviors—which have rescued us on multiple occasions from turning the sink handle and washing the bland, dull metal utensils that lie around the house—have been experiencing a downfall in the last few months. LHS has replaced its beloved plastic utensils with compostable ones. Who knows what sneaky swap they will make next in the name of “conservation”? These compostable utensils are later broken down and used as beds by the slimy worms and beetles in our backyards. The food grown in this insect-infested soil is then found on our plates, seconds away from being eaten. What isn’t always understood is that plastic utensils can do the same thing! When they roll into dumps, the land-fills them with joy as they see all their distant relatives, from plastic bags to neon yellow toothbrushes. After the reunion, we are fortunate enough for them to bestow their magical plastic powers on us as they are welcomed into our water supply. Throughout their journey on the river, they hug the sides of the shore, and soon enough, we are given little tiny microplastics. Sadly, they are too small to be seen or tasted, so they just enter our bodies unnoticeably, with no deserved recognition at all.
Luckily, there is a solution. Envision any Tiny Food video—one of those clips where chefs shrink meals so that they can be eaten in one bite. Take a mini dough pretzel, for example. To give it that burst of flavor, you have to add salt before baking and proving. Since everything is on a much smaller scale, you would only add a single grain of salt onto the pretzel. The microplastic adds flavor to our meal as the salt does to the mini-pretzel!
The best part? It’s free! The only expense rendered is our health. Also the health of the planet. But who cares about that?
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