Looking to make a purchase? Check out our 100% compostable utensils.

Plastic cutlery is used around the world by restaurants and food service businesses. Unfortunately, it wastes a lot of resources and is rarely recycled.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Today, we’d like to share 2 quick reasons why you shouldn’t be using plastic cutlery, the 2 reasons why most people & businesses do use it, and then a few recommendations for both consumers and businesses who would like to reduce their plastic cutlery consumption.

Why you shouldn’t use plastic cutlery

#1 – The vast majority of plastic cutlery can’t be recycled

First of all, only 6% of all plastic waste in the US is recycled. Let me repeat that – only 6% of all plastic waste in the US is recycled. That’s a very low number.

Most plastic cutlery is made from a type of plastic known as polystyrene¹. Polystyrene or expanded polystyrene is more commonly referred to as Styrofoam. It is very difficult to recycle Styrofoam. Most municipalities simply do not offer Styrofoam recycling and thus plastic cutlery that is put into a recycling bin is usually just sorted out at the recycling facility and sent to a landfill.

#2 – It creates waste

This is a bit of a no-brainer, but I want to paint the full picture here. If you use plastic cutlery and don’t or can’t recycle it, then it’s sent to a landfill.

If you use compostable cutlery however it can be composted and instead of piling up in a landfill it can be used as fertilizer in your garden (or in someone else’s garden).

If you’re using re-usable cutlery or metal cutlery, even better. You completely avoid the process of creating a single use item, and again – no solid waste is created.

But solid waste isn’t the only thing that’s wasteful about plastic cutlery. Plastic cutlery also takes energy and water to create. Some compostable food packaging manufacturers for instance can make 2 compostable forks (made of PLA derived from corn) using the same energy used to make 1 polystyrene fork.

Why plastic cutlery is so widely used today

#1 – Cost

The simple fact is that compostable utensils are one of the few compostable food packaging items where costs have not come down significantly, relative to available plastic options. A case of compostable cutlery can be 3x or 4x the price of a case of plastic cutlery ($10 for a case of 1,000 plastic forks vs $30-$40 for a case of 1,000 compostable forks). This can be tough to stomach, particularly for small business owners of restaurants & cafes who operate on very thin margins.

The trouble is that the cost of plastic cutlery doesn’t account for its full environmental cost. It doesn’t account for the landfill space needed, the increased energy used to manufacture it, and it sure doesn’t account for the BP Oil Spills of the world.

#2 – Convenience

Plastic cutlery makes life easier on businesses, who instead of having to wash a host of metal forks, spoons, and knives, can simply ask cutomers to discard their cutlery once they’re done eating.

It also makes life easier on consumers who are hosting events or parties with a large amount of guests. No clean-up involved – simply toss the utensils in the trash.

This factor I take serious issue with however. Most households and businesses have dishwashers that make the cleaning process very quick and efficient… and even if they don’t, how long does is really take to clean a big batch of utensils?

Recommendations

For consumers, I’d like to recommend the following:

1. Use re-usable metal cutlery whenever you’re eating at home with your family.
2. If you’re throwing a big event and must use disposables, please purchase compostable cutlery.
3. If you’re offered plastic cutlery by a business (e.g., you’re picking up some to go food), ask yourself if you really need it. Over the past few years, I’ve started turning down almost all plastic cutlery that I’m offered. It’s a bit awkward at first with cashiers, but you get used it, and it’s the only way we’re going to educate businesses that they don’t need to hand out plastic cutlery in every to go bag.

For businesses and restaurants, I’d like to recommend the following:

1. For customers that are dining in, please use metal re-usable cutlery. Plastic just doesn’t taste good in your mouth and you’ll find most of your customers would much prefer to eat with metal cutlery (I know I do). The improved dining experience should be well worth the cleaning, and in the end you’ll end up saving money as you’ll only be paying for a little water and soap to wash your cutlery… as opposed to paying for a new fork for each customer.
2. For customers that are getting their food delivered – they’re at home! What home does not have metal cutlery in the drawer. These folks do not need disposables.
3. For customers that are taking their food to go, please ask them if they need disposable cutlery before simply putting it in their to go bag. Many customers are heading home or back to work where they have access to re-usable cutlery and will simply throw away your plastic cutlery (I know you’ve seen this happen just as many times as I have). Save the cutlery and the money and ask the question first.
4. And lastly, in the event you do have to give out disposable cutlery – use compostable cutlery. Not plastic.

Are you finding ways to reduce the amount of plastic cutlery you use in your home or business? Let us know in the comments!

References:
1) Wikipedia: Plastic

There are a lot of things folks don’t know when they’re purchasing paper coffee cups. Here’s what you should be looking for if you’re trying to make sustainable choices when purchasing your paper coffee cups.

#1 – Do you need to be using disposable cups in the first place?

A lot of folks who purchase paper coffee cups simply don’t need to be buying them. They’re purchasing the cups for an office or an area where there is just not a large throughput of traffic. If this is the case, you should be using a re-usable mug or container. Paper coffee cups are needed for “to-go” purposes at cafes where they can’t be handing out ceramic mugs that cost $1 a pop to folks who aren’t going to return the mugs. They’re also needed at some events and venues where there is just such a high throughput of people that it’s not economically feasible for a business to carry & maintain (i.e. wash) re-usable mugs.

Studies have been conducted to compare the environmental footprint of re-usable cups vs. paper coffee cups. Typically, manufacturing a re-usable mug takes more energy then manufacturing a paper coffee cup. The break-even point at which a re-usable coffee cup becomes more environmentally friendly than a paper coffee cup is actually quite low though – just 24 uses.¹

If you’re in an office space, we definitely recommend pushing your co-workers to use a re-usable mug. You’ll be doing some good for the environment in less than a month :-).

#2 – Is the paper in the cup recycled or is it FSC certified?

Virgin paper has a significantly higher environmental footprint than recycled paper. Run a few calculations over at the Environmental Defense Fund’s Paper Calculator to see the numbers for yourself. Increasing recycled content in your cup results in a direct 1:1 drop in the amount of wood used (e.g., using cups with 50% recycled content as opposed to 0% requires 50% less wood) as well as reductions in the amount of energy used, waste water, and solid waste (these reductions are not 1:1, but are still significant at anywhere from 1:5 to 1:3).

Similarly, paper that is FSC certified comes from well managed forests which means that the forests are managed according to the strictest sustainability standards, which include:

• Strong forest and environmental protection standards
• Requiring protection of old growth and endangered forests
• Establishing limits on large-scale clear cutting
• Encouraging forestry practices that reduce toxic chemical use
• Strong community protection standards
• Consistently protecting native peoples rights

And that’s just naming a few.

#3 – Is the Paper PCF or ECF?

PCF standards for processed chlorine free. ECF stands for elemental chlorine free.

Why is it important to purchase paper that is PCF or ECF? White paper bleached with Chlorine and Chlorine Dioxide emits dioxins and other organochlorides into the air and water. These toxins get into the food chain and accumulate in the fat cells of animals. Through consumption, dioxin moves up the food chain and reach their highest concentration in the animals who are at the top of the food chain. As you would guess, humans occupy one of these slots. Once in our bodies, dioxin help cause diabetes, endometriosis, immune system suppression, infertility and cancer.

#4 – Are the paper coffee cups compostable?

If you can compost your paper coffee cups than you are eliminating the solid waste created by these cups.

Paper coffee cups can be certified compostable according to standards ASTM D6400 and EN13432. The simplest way to check whether a brand of cups is certified compostable is to check the Biodegradable Products Institute’s list of approved food service products.

It’s also important to note that cups that are lined with PE, polyethelyne, are not accepted by 90% of composting facilities that accept food waste (as the PE contaminates the compost). There are cups out there that are lined with PE and have been greenwashing and claiming to be compostable (see Perfectouch Hot Cups). Be sure to steer clear of these cups if you’re planning on composting your paper coffee cups.

Hope they’re helpful!

(PS – Do you have a 5th question we should be asking? Drop it in the comments and share it with our community)

References:
1) Ask Pablo. Disposable Cups vs. Reusable Mugs.

If you haven’t seen them yet, we’ve been busy the past few weeks creating a series of educational videos on topics related to compostable food packaging.

We’ve noticed over the past several months that a very serious knowledge gap exists amongst purchasers of compostable food packaging. Many buyers are unclear or confused about: 1) how to purchase compostables that are truly green, and 2) how and where to compost compostable packaging.

As a result, we decided to explore some of these issues through a few in-office Viv shorts. Hope you enjoy!

Viv Video: Biodegradable Packaging vs Compostable Packaging – DON’T get Greenwashed

Viv Video: 4 Tips To Ensure Your PLA Corn Cups Are Actually Composted

Viv Video: 4 Tips to Buying Truly Green Biodegradable Coffee Cups

Viv Video: Bagasse Products & Packaging – Why We’re Big Fans of Bagasse

(PS – I’m thinking a blue collared shirt for the next videos :-)… need to keep up this solid colored golf shirt motif)
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Last week we highlighted a major issue that eco-minded businesses are facing:

Plastic food packaging is preventing many of them from recycling more, composting more, and moving toward zero waste.

One of the recommendations we discussed to increase your businesses waste diversion was to eliminate or dramatically reduce the size of your trash can.

Today, I’d like to go into more depth here on this issue and why I think this is one of the most powerful and under utilized tactics to increasing your waste diversion rate as a business.

4 reasons why you should eliminate or dramatically reduce the size of your trash can

1. Eliminating your trash will dramatically increase your recycling & composting rates. Why is this true? Well, changing a person’s behavior is not an easy thing to do. If unmotivated, people tend to do what they’re used to, what’s easy, and what’s comfortable. Most people are used to putting all of their waste in 1 trash can. So long as a trash can is available, that will continue to happen. That’s why you need to do something that will force behavior change. If you’re used to putting all your trash in a trash can and all the sudden there is no trash can… well, now you have to figure out what to do with that waste.
   • *ENTER OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR*. Now you’re confused. You have a bunch of waste, but no trash can, and you’re looking for someone to tell you what to do with your waste. This is where amazing recycling and composting signage + trained employees are key. These signs & people educate you and tell you to put your recyclables in the recycling bin and your compostables in the composting bin. And as a result, you change your behavior and divert more of your waste to recycling and composting bins.
2. Cut down on your waste hauling costs. Many municipalities and waste haulers charge money to take away your trash. If you have less trash, then that’s less money spent having it hauled away. Further, some cities (e.g., San Francisco) offer businesses rebates if they shift their waste from trash to recycling & composting.
3. 

   The DIY Bin Solution Constructed by Rigolo

   Save space in your store or office. Many of the small businesses we’ve worked with have told us that they have trouble finding space for 3 bins: trash, composting, and recycling in the front of their house. The simple solution – eliminate your trash can and move to a 2 bin system for recycling & composting only.
4. 3-compartment waste containers can be hard to find. We’ve also heard this from multiple business owners. One of the businesses we’ve worked with, Rigolo, in Laurel Heights in San Francisco, CA had such a difficult time finding a classy 3 bin system that he eventually had to go forward with a DIY approach (shown to the right), where he sawed holes into the lids of these bins. If you only need 2 bins, there are more options available and you don’t encounter these problems.

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As you know, we cover a lot of innovations in the food packaging space. We’re big fans of compostables and all the innovation that’s taking place in that industry, but a new product is really taking the idea of compostable to a whole new level:

Meet Jelloware – an edible concept cup made entirely out of agar agar (a vegan gelatin derived from red algae that’s often used in Asian deserts).

The cups are designed by The Way We See The World, a New York based design consultancy. They’re available in various flavors to compliment your drink, including: lemon-basil, ginger-mint, or rosemary-beet. They are disposable and are meant to be thrown in the grass to biodegrade after you’re finished (and as TWWSTW points out, agar agar actually nourishes the growth of plants).
(more…)

We’re part of a LinkedIn group called the Compost Network and recently had an interesting exchange with another member of the group.

Kathy W. said: “Any hope for composting movie theatre trash? I have a client that generates a lot of trash at their multiple locations. We’ve got them recycling the cardboard and larger plastics, but the bulk of their waste is from the snack bar. There is nothing clean about any of it: nacho cheese sauce on boxes, popcorn, cups with soda, etc.

Is there any hope to help them compost or otherwise recycle this mess? They do not, under their current staffing levels, have the time or manpower – or even storage space – for sorting. I welcome any suggestions!”

1. Tickets = Paper (Recyclable or Compostable)
2. Paper Towels in the Bathrooms = Paper (Compostable)
3. Food and Drink = Organic (Compostable)
4. Food and Drink Packaging from the Snack Bar = Plastic (! Not Compostable !)

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Food service businesses of all types have been using plastic containers with lids for decades. The containers come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and are used as: take out food clamshells, deli containers, water and soda bottles, coffee cups, personal care bottles (e.g., shampoo or body wash bottles), and a great number of food items lining the shelves of grocery stores (e.g., milk cartons, food trays for produce, yogurt cups).

Traditionally, these items have been made from petroleum, but increasingly a new generation of containers and lids are available that are made from renewable resources including polylactic acid (corn), bagasse, paper, and wheat straw. These materials can be used to make food containers and lids that are certified 100% compostable according to ASTM D-6400 and D-6868, and can thus be composted in a commercial composting facility.

So with that, here are:

6 Reasons to Switch from Plastic Containers to Compostable Containers

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The vast majority of the US does not live in a city / town that offers curbside composting. Traditionally this has meant that if you want to compost, you need to set up your own home or backyard composting system. For some folks this is easy – they have acres of land and setting up a compost pile is a piece of cake.

For city dwellers however it’s a bit more difficult. Backyards are scarce, sometimes shared, and often small. Indoor composting options are available, but they can be expensive (e.g., the Naturemill starts at $299) and the cheaper home-made options can be smelly or attract bugs.

And that’s just for your home. Now think about running an eco-minded restaurant or cafe where you have 10x the waste of a household. You’re trying to move toward zero-waste and compost your food scraps (and even your food packaging)… but you don’t have a backyard, and you sure don’t have enough space to compost all your food waste indoors in your kitchen.

So what do you do?

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Polylactic acid (also referred to as poly lactic acid, polylactide, or PLA) is a biopolymer made from renewable resources such as corn starch and cane sugar. It is biodegradable in a commercial composting environment and has a broad range of applications, including: textiles, furnishings, medical devices, food packaging, and more.

Polylactic Acid Pellets

This article is going to focus exclusively on polylactic acid as it relates to food packaging and food packaging products.

Physical Properties

PLA products are typically clear and look and feel very similar to typical petroleum based plastic products. Traditionally the products have been weaker and more brittle than petroleum-based plastic products (e.g., a hot cup coffee lid could crack or tear when being placed on a cup) but recent manufacturing advances have brought overall strength of these products in line with petroleum-based plastic products. (more…)

Looking to make a purchase? Check out our 100% compostable bowls.

We’ve had a variety of dessert businesses join our Eco Buying Group recently – frozen yogurt shops, ice cream parlors, gelato makers, etc.

Sustainability has become very important to many of these businesses – from sourcing organic milk & dairy, to using energy efficient lighting & appliances, to minimizing the waste from their stores & operations.

In particular, many of these businesses have come to us looking for compostable ice cream cups and ice cream bowls, and as a result, we’ve started to gain a fair amount of insight into the supply needs of dessert business owners. And with that, we decided to put together:

The Definitive Guide to Purchasing Compostable Ice Cream Containers

We’re going to focus here on purchasing compostables, but we will say first, we highly recommend using re-usables for any customers that are having their ice cream or frozen yogurt in-store. (more…)