I started just buying potato dextrose agar in plates already sterilized in bulk. When I did the math, it's a no brainer for me to NOT spend the time prepping plates. You can get them pretty cheap if you buy in bulk, but you can even get them 10 at a time from Amazon and saves a lot of fukking around.
I throw away the old dishes and just keep moving. Just easier all around. That and the plastic bags are really all the trash I make - I'm OK with that. Soon there will be mushrooms breaking down plastic at scale too. (I hope)
i've considered getting the premade plates but I just couldn't justify the cost vs risk of receiving contaminated plates. I've always wanted to get into making my own plates anyways (lots of fun biology experiments can be done, not just mycology) so it's a win-win for me to do it myself. Plus, blanks are cheap and disposable so it's not a huge loss if i'm to blame for contamination during initial pour.
the bags are going to be a great upgrade this time round. previously I've done mostly monotubs and they're just so space consuming vs bags that can be fruited in and take up almost no space in comparison. They're also way cheaper vs sterilite or rubbermaid tubs and are equally capable of some quite impressive flushes. hell, i was even debating doing a few oyster bags just for the sake of setting em on the kitchen table or counter and letting the kids have their minds blown by watching the fruit bodies appear and grow super quickly.
Figure since I don't have anything running atm now's the time to get on with the agar work. Need to build a new SAB and then can move along with getting plates made up.