Paper Plates Made Out of Corn and Potatoes
Last week I became enamored with the smooth little brown trays my organic bosc pears were packaged in at Trader Joe’s. I have been using them to stash things here and there. The trays were labeled “Earthcycle“, so I went to their website to see if they sold any earth-friendly consumer products. Unfortunately, it looks like they’re mostly focused on produce packaging. No cool Earthcycle desk organizers or anything like that. Yet. Earthcycle, are you listening?
Then this weekend I was at Target shopping for birthday party supplies, feeling very guilty about the mass amounts of disposable paper products I will be tossing after the party. So when I found these EarthShell paper plates and bowls, I grabbed them immediately. They’re made out of corn and potatoes, and they’re 100% biodegradable. They feel like a rice cake-like substance. I’m tempted to take a bite – don’t worry, I won’t. There’s limestone in there too. The edges of the plates are all pretty beat up with some chunks breaking off in places. They look like they’re sort of in a hurry to biodegrade, actually. But they are made out of corn and potatoes, after all. So I can’t be mad at them.
Many more green disposable plate options at greenlivingonline.com
$2.49 for 25 plates or 30 bowls at renewable-products.com
Like this Fun Find? Subscribe to my RSS feed
Posted Wednesday, January 2, 2008 in Food & Drink
For Local Blog
Thanks for the great tip. It will help me to work on my New Year’s resolution to be much more conservation minded. I love my Bagus that I learned about on funfindsformom.com. Now I plan to order some Nalgene bottles that you wrote about since I gave up buying cases of bottled water at the grocery store, too. Not only is the plastic a problem, but we use an excessive amount of energy to transport those filled bottles of water all over the world. And ironically, since bottled water is less regulated than city water, we don’t even know if the quality is good! Keep up the good sleuthing…
[...] I spotted these BBQ Chipwood Baskets at Pottery Barn today, marked down to 2 dollars each. I think they’d be perfect for serving the kids snacks outside. They’re not plastic, and they’re reusable. Just lay a paper towel or napkin inside, and fill with snacks or a kid-size meal. Even better than the paper plates made from corn and potatoes. [...]
[...] you’re looking for more eco-friendly picnicware options, take a look at these biodegradable Potato Paks. They’re made in New Zealand from the [...]
Why would you be worried about using paper products? Paper products are just as biodegradable as corn products. Trees grow back just like corn does. I’m going to start a campaign to encourage people to save our wheat fields by recycling the crusts of their bread that they cut off when making a PB&J for their kids.