Dirty Little Secret

I know, I know. What I’m about to say is so unbelievably non-environmentally friendly that I can’t believe I’m going to publicly admit it. But, I am tired of hiding our dirty little secret. We need to come clean.

We use paper plates, paper bowls, AND paper cups.

We are horrible! As the former president of the “Save The Planet” club and a co-adopter of Nick the manatee in elementary school, I am ashamed. Just ashamed.

We do (sometimes) use real dishes, but it’s hard. We don’t have a dishwasher, a luxury in New York, and we only have a three foot area to cook, let dishes dry, and set stuff. Two dirty plates or a couple of glasses make the sink full and impossible to wash hands or even fit in more dishes.

We used real dishes for a long time, but the back-and-forth of whose turn it was to do them really started to tax our marriage. The bartering of who had to do them usually went of for so long that the dishes eventually overflowed the sink and made it an even less desirable chore.

We try to make up for increased paper usage in other ways - our paper products are biodegradable, we don't use paper towels, we recycle everything, we try to buy locally grown produce, our cleaning and body products are organic, we don't drive cars. Hopefully, those things make our carbon footprint just a little bit smaller.

For now, though, we deal with the shame and embarrassment and use paper. Not the most environmentally friendly choice, but definitely the most marriage friendly choice. And, right now, that’s most important.