As of 3 July, many single-use plastic products are banned in the European Union. This includes, above all, plastic tableware and cutlery.

What many people have been using on a daily basis will thus soon be a thing of the past? It should actually be clear to everyone that the excessive use of disposable plastic cannot go on like this.

Abandoning plastic cutlery may actually be a chance to rediscover the joy of eating with more sublime instruments or even with the hands.

For example, the 1972 documentary “Banana Leaf” by the two American industrial designers Ray and Charles Eames explores how people of different castes in India eat.

“The interesting thing is that the poorest eat only on a banana leaf. The higher the caste, the more cutlery and crockery is added. But the highest caste, who are only concerned with spiritual existence, again eat from the banana leaf without utensils.”.

More insights on plastic cutlery as a global phenomenon of our throwaway culture provides the German contribution to to the London Design Biennale 2021: SPOON ARCHAEOLOGY EXCAVATING THE PAST AND PRESENCE OF DESIGN PRACTICE.