Week #33 Carry your own cutlery

Did you know that carrying your own utensils used to a must in a past? 
For centuries, it would have been a faux pas to not travel with a set. Until the late seventeenth century, individually designed flatware accompanied its owner as a reflection of social status and taste.
Toting your own eating implements was not only a logistical must—none were usually provided—but also helped avoid illness (source).

Plastic utensils were introduced in the 1940s but did not start being mass-produced until the 1950s. A decade later, along with the growth of the fast-food industry, they became widely used.

These days, just in the United States itself, more than 100 million plastic utensils are used every day.

The Ocean Conservancy lists plastic cutlery as among the items “most deadly” to sea turtles, birds, and mammals, and alternatives have proven particularly difficult to come by, though not impossible.

Did you know that single-use utensils can take up to 1,000 years to decompose and most plastic utensils are made of polystyrene, which can release toxic chemicals when heated? (source).

What you can do?
It won't take much of your room in the bag to carry your own reusable cutlery. If you don't have it with you, choose to eat in a place where they don't use single-use plastic utensils or they have the biodegradable option.