In another article, I talked about the good and bad points for using plates made from plastic. This article was focused on you and your health. This one is more targeted towards the environment. With this article I will be informing you as much as possible about the pros and cons to the environment.

The best way to talk about this is to have it explained in the order of existence of them like this:

• Production
• Use
• Disposal

Production - so we know that plastic plates are made from petroleum. It is a by product of  it and while obtaining petroleum it may cause damage to the environment. It is this act that is the issue and the plates created afterward is indirectly related. Even though this is the case, demand is created by them and this is not good.

Use -The use itself is not a hazard to the environment one way or the other. What I want to point out here is the fact that after using them we just put them in the trash. This means that we do not need to use water to wash them and we do not need to use washing detergent, which goes down the drain, to wash them either. This means that these plates goes into the good category and does make a good contribution to the environment.

Disposal - I am quite sure that putting plastic plates in the trash is not a good idea.  It is much better to recycle them. If you have a recycling service in your area then you should know that you can recycle them. Because these plates are made from polystyrene they have the number six associated with them. Putting used plates into the trash means that they contribute to landfill and also, because of the materials they are made from, are not biodegradable. Keep this is mind next time you use them at your party.

There is a case to be made for both sides of the argument. The fact that the demand of the plastic in the first place is creating a need for petroleum. Bad. Everybody throwing out their plates made from plastic after a party means they contribute to land fill. Bad.

On the other hand, they can be recycled and this means that it is a good thing for the environment and global warming. Making them disposable also means that water is not wasted in washing them. Also, detergent is not used to wash them and so no bad things that go into detergent needs to go down the drain. And this is good.