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Week 4: by Rick Chillot, senior online editor
Friday, 6:00 pm You made me very sad today, plastic-free challenge.
I went to one of my favorite stores, Healthy Alternatives in Trextertown, PA. What a great place. Locally owned, full of organic food, including fresh produce and their own soups, sandwiches, and salads. Uncharacteristically, I planned ahead and brought some reusable shopping bags with me. But it wasn't long before I ran into my old (since the beginning of the week) nemesis: plastic.
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Like every other thing I wanted to buy was wrapped in plastic. Even the organic stuff!
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Wild-caught Alaska salmon. Organic pistachios. Freshly made sandwich. So close. But taboo, because of a thin layer of petroleum polymer.
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Even the soups of the day were served with a plastic lid. The best I could do was cover it with a napkin and rubber band. Is there plastic in rubber bands? Doesn't matter. I needed soup.
Friday, 9 am I quit! Well, not really. But man, am I sick of talking about plastic, thinking about plastic, looking at plastic, and typing the word "plastic." What else is there to say about it? (Plenty; take a look at Maria Rodale's "My Struggle with Plastic" blog post today, for example). Yesterday I got fed up and deliberately bought some stuff that came in plastic. Like my favorite gnocchi, which I really had a craving for but only come in a plastic package. I'm working on a formula to help me navigate my plastic decision making in the future. Maybe I'll reserve my plastic purchases for those things I really need and can't get any other way, and for every one of those give up two (three? four?) plastics that I don't need (even if the alternative is less convenient).
But let's try to stay positive. Check out the Oscar-nominated Let's Pollute for an entertaining take on plastic and other consequences of overconsumption (you can download the entire short from iTunes).
Thursday, 8 am: Plaskateers, be sure to check out today's Nickel Pincher column, in which Jean makes the shocking admission that even she, the queen of green and the theocrat of thrift, cannot keep all plastic out of her borders. But in true NP style, she turns it into a positive by putting wayward plastic to good use, saving money and extending its life before it gets recycled.
Yesterday I discovered that my local supermarket—one of them, at least—stocks only two types of organic chocolate bars: Green & Black's 70% dark, and Green & Black's 85% dark. I can't quite grok the thinking behind that. If 85% is too much for you, you'll probably like 70%? Anyway, I had one in my hand when I remembered the cookie incident from yesterday. And I couldn't remember if G&B bars have an inner plastic wrapper or not. So I put it back on the shelf.
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Wednesday, 3:43 pm:FAIL.I really wanted a cookie. |
Wednesday, 3:00 pm: We talk about plastic like it's all the same. But of course there are all different kinds of plastic, some of which are accepted by various municipal recycling programs and some of which aren't. Sometimes your plastic doesn’t come with the little recycling number on it. And all the needed sorting creates opportunities for confusion and temptation to just forget the whole thing and toss it in the trash. Which is why minimizing your plastic use as much as possible is such an effective tactic. Every time you don't use plastic, you don't have to navigate through all those decision points.
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So this week I'm really appreciating the benefit of a workplace that's willing to shoulder some of that burden. Here at Rodale, we have plenty of places to responsibly dispose of whatever plastic can't be avoided outright. Every floor has bins clearly labeled for plastic as well as various other recyclables. There are even bins for compostable materials, like your lunch leftovers. |
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Plus there are bins for your phones, discs, and batteries, so the plastic and toxic materials can be separated out and disposed of appropriately. |
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Down in the cafeteria, meals are served with washable silverware and dishware, no plastic forks or plates. You can always spot a new hire or visitor, because they're the ones standing by the bins, holding their trays, trying to work out where everything goes. |
What I'm wondering is, how many of you have a recycling bin for your plastic when you're at work? How many of you have any recycling bins at all? Do you think having more places to take your plastic would get you to recycle the plastic you use, or recycle more of it if you're already doing so? Leave a comment and let me know.
Tuesday, 2-21, 2:30 pm:Thanks to everyone who's been making suggestions for my dish-washing dilemma. On our facebook page Danika C suggested healthychild.org, which I haven't been able to dig into yet, but I see it has a nice collection of home cleaning recipes (my butler will be thrilled). As does our own Nickel Pincher, who next week will be offering specific solutions to the biggest problems we've come up against this month. Also on fb, old friend of Rodale.com Bernadette E suggests using borax, as does Pam M-A. Here's what the plastic-free icon Beth Terry, of My Plastic-Free Life, has to say:
There are plenty of plastic-free dishwasher detergents, if you're willing to buy powdered instead of liquid. We usually buy either 7th Generation or Ecover, which come in cardboard boxes. And we use white vinegar (in a glass bottle) as the rinse aid. For laundry, there are several choices. Some people make their own, but I use one of two things. Either Ecover powdered detergent, which comes in a cardboard box with a cardboard scoop even (all others have plastic scoops) or I buy Laundrytree soapnuts, which come in a paper bag. See her site for more about soapnuts.
Thank you Beth!
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Tuesday, 2-21, 8:30 am: Time to Take Out The Trash (and Then Sort Out The Plastic for Recycling) Here's my inventory of the plastic that ended up in my trash last week…or most of it, anyway. I'm not as conscientious as the folks on Beth Terry's My Plastic-Free Life blog about saving my garbage for photographic purposes, so I probably missed a few things. On the other hand, I do throw most of it on the kitchen floor, so it was easy enough to pile it together for a snapshot. |
I can see right away that my biggest routine plastic use is food-related. Even though I've already swapped all my plastic food containers for glass ones, and I try my best to not us plastic shopping bags (see Maria Rodale's blog today for my lack of success on that front), I still end up bringing home food encased in one kind of plastic or other. It's not even that I buy all that much packaged food, either. More and more supermarkets are offering more and more organic vegetables and fruits, which is great. But often those foods are bagged or wrapped or clamshelled or otherwise plasticized. It seems to be an easy way for the merchants to make sure the organic items get scanned with the proper barcode. I think if we want organic food to be widely available, we have to expect food sellers to do what they must to operate their businesses effectively. But sometimes that creates difficult choices, like buying organic bananas in plastic, or chemically-grown bananas without. (Most weeks I'll buy the organic and recycle the plastic; but this week, I'll choose neither, to honor the plastic-free ethos.)
While thinking through this, I realized I have another big food-related obstacle coming up very soon. My dishwasher is nearly full. I have no clean plates or forks left. Do I buy dish soap in a plastic container? What are the alternatives, especially the eco-friendly ones? Does anyone have a recipe for home-made dish soap? What if I just left everything outside for wild animals to come and lick clean? Suggestions please!
 My hand isn't really this orange, though I do eat a lot of carotenoids. |
Monday, 2-21: Success with Loose Nuts Our office is closed for President's Day today, and I'm having connectivity issues from home. But if the Internet allows, I do have one story to report. I had to buy six, and only six, wingnuts at the hardware store today. Usually that means seeking them out in the nuts and bolts aisle (one of my top ten favorite aisles) and then putting them in a little plastic bar-coded bag to take up to the register. Yes, this is a bag whose useful existence lasts only for the ninety seconds it takes to walk to the front of the store. Clearly a violation of the no-plastic challenge. Yet I needed those nuts! So I scooped them up into my sweaty palm and brought them to the cashier, ready for a fight. Here's how the debate went: Me: "Can you just ring these up if I don't have that plastic bag?" Cashier: "Sure." I savored that success all during lunch, until I realized I'd bought a sandwich wrapped in plastic. |
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Sunday, 2-20: Plastic On My Porch, Plastic In Your Mailbox I've read here and there that scientists—or engineers, or technologists, or whoever it is that works on this kind of things—are close to inventing an actual cloak of invisibility. But I realized today that there's no need to spend years of research and kajillions of dollars for that. All they need to do is make the thing out of plastic. Because plastic is as invisible as it gets. I learned this today, on my first day of the last week of our plastic-free challenge. I decided I start the week without taking any particular anti-plastic precautions, and just kind of sidle out of the way if any plastic turned up. Very quickly, I found out how many ordinary Sunday activities bring me into contact with all sorts of plastic that seems to have been completely invisible to me before I started paying attention. |
Starting with the Sunday paper. I like supporting traditional 20th-century media, but unfortunately this version is delivered in a plastic wrapper, even if it's not raining. In fact, when the weather's nasty, it comes wrapped in two plastic wrappers. When I used to deliver papers, we just tossed them on the porch without any protection. It was a simpler time. We were too busy riding around without airbags, littering, and letting our dogs go wherever they wanted without cleaning up after them to worry about covering our newspapers in plastic.
I've been unwrapping that plastic every Sunday for I don't know how long, without even thinking about it. They were just a minor inconvenience between me and a non-internet news source. And that brings me to a point that's been raised by some of you over the past few weeks: What's up with a plastic-free challenge from a publishing company that mails its magazines in plastic? Well, here's the deal on that. First of all, the challenge is a project of the Rodale.com editors, not the company as a whole, Rodale Inc. We (Rodale.com) are internet-only, without any plastic encasing our product.
But to the wider point, yes, subscribers to Rodale Inc. magazines like Prevention do receive their issues in a plastic sleeve. That's because they're needed to make sure the magazines arrive intact, and there's not another material that can be handled by the machines used by U.S. Postal Service or the magazine vendors. It's not an ideal solution, and when there is one, you can expect to see it in your mailbox. In the meantime, the wraps are 100% recyclable, and the company works hard to shrink its plastic use in other ways (there are no plastic utensils or disposable plastic cups in our cafeterias, for example). So if you're a subscriber, be sure to recycle the wrapper. Which I'm doing from now on with my Sunday newspaper encasement—now that I've finally noticed them.
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The nation’s governors well, many of them, anyway are gathering in Colonial Williamsburg, Va., for their annual summer meeting this weekend.Schoenht Toy Piano
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That is so great! I love that
That is so great! I love that you can save so much of the earth by switching to glass jars than by using more common plastic. Ive started storing all of my herbs and spices in apothecary jars so they don't spoil as fast and I don't use plastic or waste food!
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The articles that you produce are very important to all of us, thank you for sharing them and informing the public.
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I think going plastic free is definitely the way to go. Plastic is so bad for the environment. Lets push this more in the future.
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Hemp Bars also make the perfect snack food, will affect positively the glycemic index of cereal, as well as leave you with a good feeling that you have eaten something good. But the DEA is in charge of hemp growing. We should all write them and tell them we are going to vote them out next election.
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The Rodale.com editors really liked the Lunchbots stainless steel containers mentioned in the article above. They're really durable, and the lids stay on really well. Plus most are small enough to fit into standard reusable lunch bags. Good luck!
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Plastic-Free Yard Work
That's hilarious about the wingnuts.
We did some yard work this weekend to clean up after the "big freeze" and managed to spend a whole afternoon plastic-free. I'm feeling rather pleased with myself.
http://eatdrinkbetter.com/2011/02/21/plastic-free-february-days-14-and-15/
Heather
Eat.Drink.Better
Sinus infections
I seem to be prone to sinus infections and have usually resorted to antibiotics to resolve them. For the last 3 years I've tried to preempt the infection by noticing symptoms a few days in advance, such as neck soreness/tenderness when I look up at the ceiling (swollen lymph nodes?), extreme mid-day tiredness, mild cold symptoms. When I notice these symptoms I will do the following: sleeping when I feel weirdly tired, rinsing my nasal passages with a simple salt solution and a Neti Pot, boosting my immune system with Vitamin D and maybe a Vitamin C for fun ( caution, I did just read that boosting the immune system during a cold may actually make it worse- sigh); and lastly, avoiding caffeine and sugar. Note! I only do these things when I think I'm coming down with something! I THINK it has helped- but how would I know for sure? : )
Not too late!
Of course it's not too late! Every day is another opportunity to cut down on your plastic. We're glad to have you on board, and be sure to let us know here or on facebook how it's going.
Rick Chillot, senior editor
Too Late?
OMG! I'm a bit late hearing about a plastic-free Feb, but surely I can still join in?
It made me consider what I have eaten today- so far cereal with milk from a plastic carton, a piece of toast with peanut butter- both out of plastic, water from a plastic bottle and a couple of valentines chocolates, stored in a plastic tray.
So what can I do tomorrow? Get milk from the milkman in a glass bottle- but don't think they do organic milk! I often buy bread from the bakery- which doesn't have to be wrapped in anything! peanut butter I think still comes in glass jars- but I often have yoghurt for breakfast. What do I do about that? I thought I was being good reusing my plastic bottles for water through-out the day but now find out I have been drinking water that has been sitting about in poisonous bottles all day! I have a metal thermos which resolves the issue of using plastic, but is that healthy?
I'll look for solutions, but any suggestions always welcome!
Sunshine xx
Plastic Free - Harder than we thought....
Lessons learned...on the postive.....also the negatives and the near impossibility of the task. Thanks Rodale for opening our eyes and encouraging us to make changes, one step at a time! Thanks to all the bloggers who courageously participated, and who we learned so much from!!! Thank you, Thank you!!!
Maya Rodale, MayaRodale.com/blog; Liz Banse, Grrl Gone Green; Paul Clarke, School of Sustainability; Growing A Greener World w/Joe Lamp'l; Jen Savedge, The Green Parent; Corey Condello, CoreyCondello.com; Briton, EnslavedByFaeries.blogspot.com; News From Nowhere; Megan McWilliams, The Green Diva; Organicality.com; GreenDump.net; MPA Daily News Round-Up; Jen Walter, Jenni's Jingles; Green Families UK; Liz Ask Liz First; Prevention Magazine Spark; Healthy Child, Healthy World; Kristen Mighty Nest.!
http://www.climatemama.com/index.php?option=com_wordpress&p=1633&Itemid=56
Stainless...
My guess on the lens cases is that stainless steel might be more likely to scratch the lenses.
Ugh plastic
It's so hard to get away from plastic, but it'd doable, at least in part. We've been working on this for a few years now.
One way to reduce plastic and save money, make your own toothpowder and store in a glass jar. Have a recipe on my blog this week using some of those yummy in season meyer lemons:
http://chiotsrun.com/2011/02/09/vanilla-meyer-lemon-tooth-powder/
Can't wait to keep up with how you're doing on this, keep up the good work.
Climate Change & Plastic Connecting the Dots
What's the connection between plastic and climate change, we explore this in our latest blog post at www.climatemama.com. Along the way, we also realize that we are ADDICTED to plastic. Like many addictions, it has crept up on us and we didn't even realize it until this week and the Plastic Free Challenge. We now have to fight, to conquer this addiction and be free!
Plastic-Free February
This is more challenging than I expected. I am entirely surrounded by plastic.
One commenter suggested I reuse glass jars with metal lids. I was just finishing off a jar of salsa at the time. Woohoo! My first plastic-free food storage container.
When I decided to do plastic-free February, it didn't even occur to me how much of my life is dependent on plastics. I was just noticing tonight how much plastic is in sports.
Lunchskins, not totally plastic-free
My husband and I use Lunchskins, which are dishwasher-safe sandwich bags. They are lined with a thin layer of polyurethane, which the site claims is lead-free, BPA-free, and phthalate-free. Since we bought them before I signed onto the challenge, we're going to keep them.
If you don't want to buy reusable lunch bags, you can always wrap your sandwich in aluminum foil. It could be rinsed and used more than once.
Top 7 Reasons to Recycle Plastic - ClimateMama Day 1
Join us this week at www.ClimateMama.com as we take the Rodale.com Plastic Free Challenge and live our life with less plastic in it. Each day, in addition to the trials and tribulations of reducing our plastic use, we will also learn something new about plastics...the good the bad and the ugly! Come along for the ride.
Glass Water Bottles
This is most importat for men. Well, for women too, The plastic estrogen mimicking chemicals are devastating to men and also deadly to women. Glass water bottles are hard to find, but search for them. Home Breweries and winemakers don't use plastic bottles so you can get them from them. The taste of the water is remarkably better
We're in and so is the dog!
I was just thinking that reducing plastics is the next logical step in our quest to be more conscious consumers. Great timing! I'm taking on this challenge and including my husband, two kids and dog, Obi. I'll post our progress and challenges on my blog at http://www.ifitbarks.com/dog-collars-blog/
You would think I would live without plastic!
I am so happy Rodale has created this challenge and I am happy to pledge. I actually pledged not to accept any disposable plastic at Plastic Pollution Coalition, but I must admit, I have not been able to honour my pledge completely.
You would think I should live without plastic, being the co-owner of an online business called LifeWithoutPlastic.com where we offer all kinds of great alternatives to plastic products. But alas, I still consume too much disposable plastic every month.
Mostly, it is the plastic packaging of the food I buy at the store that I find difficult to avoid. We live in a small rural community and it is not always possible to get everything in bulk. Just today, I used cream cheese for my sandwich out of a plastic container. Yesterday, I had some hummus, again from a plastic container.
Of all people, I should lead by example, so I happily take on the challenge and I will blog about my progress on lifewithoutplasticblog.com. I will try and avoid the plastic disposable packaging as much as possible even if it means no cream cheese in my sandwich.
- Chantal Plamondon
LifeWithoutPlastic.com
I’m Free!
Happy Plastic-Free February!
Our family has taken up the Rodale.com challenge. I wrapped Emma’s sandwich in toxin-free waxed paper this morning. I was wishing I had a ribbon handy to tie a bow on it, but by that time we would have missed the bus. Alas, the bread, ham, cheese and alfalfa sprouts all came from plastic containers, but I did buy them in January. Truth be told it was January 31st for the ham. I bought milk in a plastic jug then too, but I did debate it. I had to choose between non-organic in a returnable glass bottle or organic in plastic. I chose organic. I am sure I would have been won over had the bottle displayed a label stating that the cows were allowed to roam freely in pasture. This month, though, I will have to plan better, and planning isn’t really one of my strengths.
Rodale.com tells us that plastic is bad because “It's made from either petroleum or natural gas, two non-renewable resources extracted in ways that pollute our air and water. Plastic manufacturers add chemicals to certain types of plastics that can be highly toxic, like bisphenol A and phthalates. And very few types of plastic are widely recycled.” On that note, rather than banning incandescent light bulbs (which I just discovered our province has banned and I strongly disagree because of the mercury content of fluorescent light bulbs – I have no idea how I am now going to light my plastic-free home), I believe all packaging that cannot be recycled in the region in which it is marketed should be banned. Plastic tops the list because will never, ever, ever break down in the landfill and it is known to contain pseudo-estrogens which will leak into the groundwater beneath the landfill and eventually cause cancer and other health problems for people and animals alike. I have been consciously trying to store leftovers in glass jars and choosing glass over plastic (and over cans) when I make a purchase, although the decision is often clouded when the organic option is only available in plastic. But now, thanks to Rodale, we have rules! Don’t worry – there are only 3!
1. No buying or acquiring new plastic.
2: No cooking with plastic or storing food in plastic.
3: Minimize all other plastic use.
Here are some tips I have already come up with:
Always keep reusable shopping bags in your car and the cars of your spouse and children. You never know when you might get the urge to shop!
Toss all of your reusable plastic containers in the recycling box so that no one in your family will be tempted to use them.
Save and reuse wide-mouth jars and lids and haul out your summer canning equipment for more storage, if need be.
Buy only Perrier or San Pellegrino (I love Perrier and San Pellegrino) if you are out and thirsty and forgot your stainless steel water bottle. (You may be about to add that asking for water in a cup would be a better choice, but I have health concerns about the chemical toxins in non-filtered tap water)
I invite you to join me, take up the challenge, and share your own tips. Free is fabulous!
http://jennwalter.blogspot.com/
Plastic Free Living
Unfortunately, I bought some plastic covers for bowls today, so I can't say that I've totally committed to a Plastic Free life at the moment. I will ask pardon by offering that my purchase be ameliorated because these plastic "bonnets" are washable and reusable (the last set I had were used for over 10 years).
Here in Edmonton we have a fabulous recycling system and a community that promotes the three R's: reduce, reuse and recycle. My family is very careful about purchasing local or alreay used where possible and we do not purchase anything that is over-packaged. (I remember that, in the 1970's, we used to slap stickers that said, "this product is over-packaged" on merchandise that had more packaging than product. A bit naive, considering that we were adding to the waste, but our intentions were honourable.)
My dad was way ahead of his time - in the 1960's, when plastics were coming into their own, my dad refused to have plastic in our house; everything was wood, ceramic, metal or glass. He thought plastic unsanitary and he wasn't far wrong. As a result, I grew up with an aversion to plastic and it is a serious matter for me to make such a purchase now. We opt for reusable and recyclable tin foil or just placing a plate or other dish to keep food fresh. My mum and dad raised us to think about where waste ends up, getting us to think about how household garbage doesn't just go away and saying "whatever you put down the drain, you will eventually drink". What a great example they set!
Living plastic free may not be convenient as it can sometimes be difficult to find suitable alternatives, e.g. freezer containers, but it can be done! Part of our dependence on plastic has to do with how busy our lives have become. Using plastic for preserving freshness is so convenient, but it is truly a poor choice for our environment. Just think, it is only since the 1950's that we have become dependent on plastic. We can use glass, ceramic, paper, tin foil, cloth - we are only limited by our imaginations. (By the way, elastic bands are a great way to keep air out.)
There are things in our lives, especially electronic gadgets, that are simply not available in plastic-free forms. It is a huge commtment to find ways to recycle these things responsibly or to even do without them. What I think about when I am considering these types of purchases is how the long-term effects can be minimized. Friends, we only have one planet and, if you're reading this, you are already working on preserving and protecting it. Good for you!
I am really pleased to see Rodale promoting a Plastic-Free February. It is said that it takes just 21 days to establish a habit and February has 28! Here's hoping this is one good habit we can all learn.
Blessings,
Deanne
Plastic Free
I'm going to try. If only there were hemp wrap. I remember cellophane, it was was made sfrom wood pulp.
Anyone here ever looked at
Anyone here ever looked at www.reusit.com? We hear it's great.
Go Green Lunches
Wow! www.reuseit.com was great! It had tons of easy, everyday solutions to my lunch problems. It was a tremendous success. I am stuck in plastic bag heck until the products arrive, but I guess that is the point of the whole month long process. Take stock of what we use and what we waste. I am embarrassed at how much plastic is in everything and how much I waste! I mean everything! My pencis and pens, plastic containers for everything, even my keyboard is plastic.
On the bright side, my daughter baked cookies for her teachers last night and the first thing to bag up the little goodies was a plastic bag. We started to give in, but decided to use butcher paper and make "envelopes" for bags. It worked great. Then she wrote on each envelope, "Go Green and Just say NO to Plastic." Eco-friendly and spreading the word about plastic. It was a great day!
Thanks for all your help as I continue with the plastic challenge.
Thrilled to join!
Hi! I'm so happy to be joining your Plastic-Free February challenge! I'll be blogging about my experiences at http://greenfamiliesuk.blogspot.com/ Looking forward to learning and sharing my experiences with others! Best, Jessica
I'm ready for the challenge!
Will keep up on your journey and share yours and mine:
http://asklizfirst.com/environment/going-plastic-free-with-rodale-in-feb...
Plastic-free
I'm joining and will blog about it at my own book and cook site: http://peacefulreader.com. How can you find a way to send out magazines w/out plastic covers?
Plastic Free MAIL?
Will you suspend mailing your magazines in polybags for the month of February, or is this another "do as I say, not as I do" dictate?
Re: Plastic
Hi Maybeth,
We're so glad you've decided to join on to our challenge! As for lunch containers, we've written about a few plastic-free, unbreakable alternatives here:
http://www.rodale.com/green-school-supplies?page=0%2C1
The Rodale.com editors really liked the Lunchbots stainless steel containers mentioned in the article above. They're really durable, and the lids stay on really well. Plus most are small enough to fit into standard reusable lunch bags. Good luck!
Emily Main
Plastic
No plastic for a month! Whew! The idea just makes me excited and nervous all at the same time. It is such a integrated part of my life that I am willing to give it a solid try, but...can anyone suggest a way to get lunch to school in something that won't break? Sandwiches can be wrapped in freezer paper but we often take salads, whole grain pasta dishes and other items that need to be put in a spill proof container.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
I'm In!
Great idea! I would love to be a part of Plastic-free February. Looking around me, I can see that it is going to be quite the challenge, but definitely a worthy one. I'm blogging at www.thegreengiftguide.org and would be happy to share and update readers along the way. Wish me luck!
party silverware
We entertain quite often, indoors and out, with neighbors, family reunions, etc. I have found 2-3 sets of metal silverware at garage sales, plus bit and pieces from thrift stores. They all go into a big bin and THAT is what we use when we all dine together. If I have time, I wrap a knife,fork and spoon in a napkin for quicker access in the food line.
I do have to remember to bring a bin for the dirty silverware afterward. I think some of the smaller kids have accidentally thrown away of few of the pieces, but that's OK, its still better than than the alternative.
Sure beats throw-away plastic silverware!
party silverware
We entertain quite often, indoors and out, with neighbors, family reunions, etc. I have found 2-3 sets of metal silverware at garage sales, plus bit and pieces from thrift stores. They all go into a big bin and THAT is what we use when we all dine together. If I have time, I wrap a knife,fork and spoon in a napkin for quicker access in the food line.
I do have to remember to bring a bin for the dirty silverware afterward. I think some of the smaller kids have accidentally thrown away of few of the pieces, but that's OK, its still better than than the alternative.
Sure beats throw-away plastic silverware!