The Raven's Mutterings Wherein Carl Cravens talks about geeky stuff

Biodegradable, renewable plastic forks

Now this is just cool...

http://www.worldcentric.org/store/bioplastics.htm

Maybe I'm a bit out of the loop... I've known about corn-starch based plastic wrappers and packing peanuts. But I had no idea that there were companies making plastic cutlery and drinking cups out of the stuff. They're not making plates out of it, because those are being made out of bagasse, the stuff left over after pressing sugar cane. All this stuff's not just biodegradable, but it's compostable, which means it will degrade quickly under composting conditions.

Now I've been bothered for some time about our obsessive "convenience packaging" culture, but I really wasn't sure what to do about it. I try not to use disposable stuff when I can use reusable (a steel fork instead of plastic), and we use canvas shopping bags instead of plastic (or the wife does, and I do when I remember to grab one), but I'm a dyed-in-the-wool consumer... I buy stuff, and that includes eating at fast-food places that give no choice but paper and plastic.

My work place doesn't have a kitchen, and I've found that trying to use metal cutlery and reusable plates results in dirty dishes in my desk drawer. I feel guilty about the box of plastic knives and forks... filling the landfill with non-renewable petroleum products, but giving them up degrades my quality of life. (I've got enough stress that I don't need to worry about doing the dishes at work!)

So I can really get behind this. I still want to minimize my use of disposable products, but at least I can choose disposable products that are biodegradable and made from an easily renewable resource. (As opposed to paper, which is technically renewable, but it's not a good renewable source for creating disposables.) So I'm going to buy some of these and give them a try.

I'm going to have to look more closely at those Seventh Generation paper goods, too... 100% recycled napkins and TP, with 80% post-consumer content.

Now, if all those restaurants and packagers of goods will get on the bandwagon and start choosing renewable, biodegradable packaging materials, I'll be a happy camper.