Environmental Friendly Eating Items

[stacktester]

I was wondering if anyone has heard of a place to buy eco friendly utensils and plates. I almost always use paper plates and cups but it's kinda hard to not use real forks or plastic.

Some on here know I'm in the environmental field and I'm always looking for a way to conserve or make better environmental choices. I test smokestacks for emissions and make sure the facilities are not putting out more than their permitted allowable.

I recently ate at a restaurant called Healthy Way in Jax. It serves all organic food and it's a little pricey but really good. Anyway the drinking cups looked just like plastic but they are made of corn starch and will rot within 60 days. The forks were made from potato starch and also rot quickly. I thought these things would make great sense in the camping field. I hate seeing all the waste we put in landfills. Can you just imagine the plastic Disney aloneputs in landfills daily. We need to recycle and quit using so much plastic. Hopefully someone else on here can direct me to these items. I guess I should have asked the manager but it didn't hit me til later.

 

[djblu883]

I was wondering if anyone has heard of a place to buy eco friendly utensils and plates. I almost always use paper plates and cups but it's kinda hard to not use real forks or plastic.

Some on here know I'm in the environmental field and I'm always looking for a way to conserve or make better environmental choices. I test smokestacks for emissions and make sure the facilities are not putting out more than their permitted allowable.

I recently ate at a restaurant called Healthy Way in Jax. It serves all organic food and it's a little pricey but really good. Anyway the drinking cups looked just like plastic but they are made of corn starch and will rot within 60 days. The forks were made from potato starch and also rot quickly. I thought these things would make great sense in the camping field. I hate seeing all the waste we put in landfills. Can you just imagine the plastic Disney aloneputs in landfills daily. We need to recycle and quit using so much plastic. Hopefully someone else on here can direct me to these items. I guess I should have asked the manager but it didn't hit me til later.

I know that I've bought plates that were "green" as in earth friendly actually at Wal Mart but have yet to find utensils...they also carry a line of juices that are bottled in the corn based products you mentioned..try googling it and see what you find...I'd like to know as well if you are lucky enough to find them as I camp most of all the year as a traveling therapist...I do use a lot of paper plates but wash my utensils vs use plasticware...

 

[greytmom]

Try
http://www.biodegradablestore.com/cip/cip_utensils.html

 

[stacktester]

Try
http://www.biodegradablestore.com/cip/cip_utensils.html

Thanks for the link. I found some others as well. The items look to be inexpensive as well. Seeing the items made from bagasse was interesting. Bagasse is the leftover of sugar cane once all the sugar has been extracted. I tested a sugar mill in Clewiston, FL once and they used the bagasse as fuel to fire the steam boilers. It's neat to see something else being done to help the environment.

Everyday you see restaurants throwing away plastic and styrofoam that will take hundreds of years to rot. I'm not a treehugger by any means (I actually support industry as it is a living for me) but some items are rediculous and bad for the environment. Styrofoam not only is bad once it's thrown away but puts off a lot of gases when it's made. Hopefully the manufacturers of these bio products will get them to the shelves rather than having to order them.

 

[drafthorsecrazy]

I heard somewhere that Disney is required to recycle at least 30% of their trash and that they incinerate whats left to produce electricity. I think I heard this on the Keys to the Kingdom tour. Hope its true....WDW sure generates alot of trash.

 

[big kahuna1]

I always find that fingers are the most environmently friendly and reusable too! Heck, you're camping!

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

Did they do away with the recycling bins in each loop? There used to be some bins on a wooden pedastal that was for aluminum, glass, plastic and I think cardboard, or something. I can't remember exactly, but I do remember the recycling bins.

 

[big kahuna1]

The recycle binds are still there but only for plastic containers(plastic beer bottles ), glass(beer bottles ) and aluminum(beer cans ). I do not think they are intended for other plastic items such as plastic plates, forks, knives or spoons and stuff but you never know.

 

[graciejane]

Did they do away with the recycling bins in each loop? There used to be some bins on a wooden pedastal that was for aluminum, glass, plastic and I think cardboard, or something. I can't remember exactly, but I do remember the recycling bins.

Thye still have the recycling bins. It makes recycling so much easier that way.

 

[Mr Man]

Agreed on styrofoam. Nasty stuff.

It is my understanding that Disney has agreed that all of their plastic consumables must be of at least 30% recycled content. Their corporate record seems to be better than most. I can't post links yet but Disney corporate site has quite a bit on what they call Disney "Environmentality" (I guess "Super-cali-fragi-Eco-friendly-alli-doshis" was taken).

We have looked into biodegradable utensils/plates stuff for camping but generally end up sticking with standard silverware/plates, as we have more than we need (would love a TT with a dishwasher though)

Compnay I work for uses products from a company called nvyro for a variety of applications. Easy to find them on the net.

Their sugarcane plates work very well and are cheap (nut not as cheap as paper). Very interesting technical process if you have an interest in this sort of thing. There is also another company that makes stuff using potato starches etc.

Truth be known, standard paper plates are a pretty good option (esp the ones that have recycled content).

I also believe in conservation (because I am cheap) but tend to worry less about Mother Nature and more about people/jobs/quality of life etc. Mother Nature was here before us and will still be here long after we are all gone. JMO your mileage may vary tm all rights reserved