Summertime

It has been years since I've actually seen this, but at an undisclosed location on the East Coast where most of my family lives, they save and wash plastic cutlery at bbqs. Right by the trash, they keep a container of soapy water to pre-soak the cutlery before handwashing it in time for re-use at the next outdoor function. Yes. A big old plastic basin of sudsy water, forks, and floating food particles, sitting out clear as day!

Everyone can see it. Nobody there thinks it is shameful, and this vile tub of food particles with greasy plastic forks and knives acts as a visual hint so that you pitch your plastic into the water instead of throwing it into the trash.

I suppose we are all allowed to do as we like, per se, but I have always approached the recycling of disposeable items with defiance. This scenario only proves that society doesn't need plastic cutlery in the first place! Come now, why didn't they just use real flatware?

And don't even try to buck the system. Tempers flare at these family functions if you snobbishly throw out your trash in one fell swoop.