Over the years, we have become increasingly accustomed — and conditioned — to eating with single-use plastic forks, knives and spoons when ordering takeout and enjoying ourselves at family celebrations, parties and public events. This practice is inherently unsustainable, so disposable utensils made from organic materials — and thus biodegradable, compostable or even edible — are gaining popularity. Is this progress?

With as many as 40 billion plastic utensils discarded each year, these single-use implements have a substantial environmental impact. They are made from a non-renewable resource, oil, whose extraction, refinement and initial transport are dirty these utensils processes that damage our climate. Manufacturing, packaging and transporting these utensils to markets produces more pollution. And then, after being used once, they are thrown away, carried in polluting trucks to landfills, where they will linger for centuries.

Other types of cutlery are more sustainable than oil-based plastic utensils. Bioplastic examples are made wholly or primarily with biomass (renewable organic material) and are theoretically biodegradable and even compostable. Eating implements formed from natural materials like wood, bamboo, vegetable fiber and corn starch — some of which are themselves edible (really) — will likewise break down over time.

However, like conventional plastic utensils, these types of cutlery leave a sizable carbon footprint. Producing the raw materials can require water, fertilizer and energy, and like oil-based plastics, they are manufactured, packaged and transported. Moreover, claims that these utensils are biodegradable and compostable are often disingenuous. Biodegradation, especially of bioplastics, can take many years. Composting this cutlery usually requires a commercial, high-heat process, yet even well-regarded recycling services often recommend that compostable eating utensils go in the trash.

Let us, then, ensure that we use disposable cutlery as rarely as possible — or simply stop using it entirely. Purchase metal utensils secondhand, for example, and take them along when ordering takeout or going on a picnic. Afterwards, wash and repeat. Having made this beginning, gradually purge plastic from your life wherever possible. Though plastic can be essential, as in modern medicine, it need not permeate our lives as it does these days. In many cases, there are sustainable alternatives, so let’s make some changes: Start small but think big!

David Conwell is a former history teacher who belongs to Brunswick’s Sustainability Committee and the nationwide advocacy organization Citizens Climate Lobby.

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