MoFo day 19 – post!

Considering that when I left my house this morning it was lashing down and really windy, today didn’t turn out so badly, weather wise. It’s the little things in life!

…like getting goodies in the post!

I get very little post. Most of my bills are digital at this point so the majority of stuff that comes through my letterbox is composed of junk mail, free newspapers and assorted information packs from assorted religions. Snooze!

Every now and again I get something cool though, even if I have to order it myself. Last week I finally stumped up and bought two sets of to go ware, and they finally arrived!

As I’ve moved from college to work, I’m eating takeaway lunch (and even dinner) on a more regular basis – maybe once a week. Not as frugal as I’d like, but sometimes it’s inevitable with the line of work I’m in.  I invariably end up with at least one plastic utensil with my meal, even if I’m having a sandwich or burrito (mmmburrito) – clearly the wooden forks that were so commonplace during the economic boom are too  expensive and everything’s gone plastic again.  This does not sit well with me at all, as I try to be as eco friendly and minimal waste as possible. On top of this, there’s a lot of plastic cutlery in the studio as the metal stuff seems to vanish like the dust sprites in Totoro as soon as the washing up has been done (and don’t get me started on the washing up….suffice to say that some people should not be allowed to share communal kitchen space. Blargh).

This fab looking purple pouch is made from recycled PET and has a carbinger clip on the back, for easy retrieval from bags, or for hanging off suitable things. Inside is a full sized fork, knife, spoon and a set of chopsticks, made from responsibly sourced bamboo. I think that’s what sold me on this kit in particular – many cutlery kits are made from plastic, which is easy to clean but no fun to eat with (as well as being petrochemical-tastic, even if BPA free). Most of them that I’ve looked at also don’t come with a full set like the to go ware. The best of them have fork/spoon/chopsticks, but no knife and I’m not big into spreading peanut butter on bread with a spoon, especially if I’m already dealing with the bag-as-plate that seems to go along with most of my eating al fresco.

Many kits also have my most hated of all eating utensils – the dreaded spork.

The ToGo ware kit fits nicely in my normal sized bag, which means that hopefully I’ll never again need to take a plastic fork if I’m getting takeaway lunch, or a plastic spoon if I stop somewhere for ice cream. (Is anyone else annoyed when you get takeout or ice cream in biodegradeable paper wrapping, only to get plastic cutlery to eat it with?)

I also plan to bring it on holiday so that I can pick up vegan snacks in supermarkets and have instant picnics without having to fork out (gettit? FORK out? hur hur……yeah…..) for ready sliced this and that. It also gives me the excuse to get a pint of ice cream rather than a piddly little tub, all for want of a spoon. I already have “real” napkins at home, so one of those wrapped around the pouch and no food is beyond me!

Unfortunately I’ve had nothing to eat today that required cutlery. It has been a nibbly, dunky, snacky kind of day. I’m planning on using them a lot over the next few days though, and will give a performance review then. I got a second set for HusBeast as well, and he was delighted with them. I think we’ll be taking them to check out Oktoberfest Dublin this weekend! (Here’s hoping the sauerkraut is vegan!)