"biodegradable" news and stories

There's a new eco label coming out this spring to address products -- like water bottles and grocery bags -- made with bio-based ingredients (primarily corn), which decompose instead of requiring recycling: "USDA Certified Biobased Product."

Totally Green, for example, produces a corn-based water bottle that can be composted along with other food waste, and plans to use the label as soon as it is released, reports the Des Moines Register. Unfortunately, compostable chip bags never caught on thanks to their insanely loud crinkling, but these water bottles have no noise issues, so perhaps they'll have better luck.

Cotton and wool products won't apply because the program is intended to support the agricultural commodity market. That being corn, of course. Look for the label on anything from dish soap bottles to skin-care products. Will you make the switch?

Even the most environmentally conscientious consumers harbor a little trash in their lives. One culprit lurks in the frozen food aisle, with all those veggies sealed in polyethylene -- which takes hundreds of years to decompose.

Now those plastic veggie bags may be on the way out, too. Oregon's Stahlbush Island Farms announced today (on Earth Day, of course!) that they are replacing the standard plastic frozen-food bag with a new, 100-percent biodegradable version. Working with Cadillac Products Packaging Company, which has a twenty-year history of creating sustainable packaging, Stahlbush has developed what they call "the first of its kind" biodegradable bag for its frozen fruits and vegetables.

Grilling and the summer season go hand-in-hand. So it's only natural that, once Memorial Day arrives, you break out the grill and the coals and the burgers (or, if you're me, the latter is of the faux variety).

But what if you're not too keen on that lighter fluid/coal taste on your food, and you don't want to invest in a gas grill? No problem - get yourself a Baja BBQ Firepack from Mike and Maaike. It's a great eco alternative to your typical grills, (46,200 tons of lighter fluid are sold each year, and they emit 14,500 tons of VOCs, or Volatile Organic Compounds, which can deplete the ozone layer and are generally unhealthy for our lungs).

So, how does the Baja BBQ work? Simple: Light the chemical-free, 100% recycled and biodegradable paper pulp container that contains 2 pounds of charcoal. It burns down on its own and after 15-20 minutes, you'll have a pile of charcoal that will perfectly grill your meat, veggies, or dessert without any of the added chemicals or gross lighter fluid taste.

via [joshspear]

I was getting off the bus on my way to a craft swap, and I was mind-numbingly sleep-deprived. I needed coffee immediately and almost cried with happiness when I saw the sign outside the new electric car dealership. "Hip Drip Cafe," or something. Whatever. They had coffee.

I bought a cup and started feeling guilty when I got to the airpots to fill up. There was a sign encouraging patrons to bring their own cups -- you'd save 25 cents -- and I've been really working to reduce my waste lately. I mentally reminded myself to bring the cup home, so I could compost it and recycle the plastic lid. I grabbed the lid and... discovered Tater Ware.

Tater Ware is, as the cup lid indicates, made of potatoes. They are 100% biodegradable and, if you're worried about those things, GMO free. In addition to the to go cup lid I had on my coffee, the company makes clamshell takeout containers, deli trays, cutlery, and hot/cold cups. The products are "microwarmable" (you can use them to reheat food and beverages in the microwave) and, yep, they can go straight in the compost pile.

Most importantly, my coffee did not have a potato-ey aftertaste. My next campaign: convincing my neighborhood coffee shop to switch to Tater Ware. Someone's got to keep Idaho in business!

At a recent outdoor wedding reception (the same one that served the faux meat), I found myself standing around talking and eating the ice cream cake that was dessert. A friend was stirring a cup of coffee with a disposable spoon and when she pulled it out of the cup she discovered that the spoon had started to melt in the heat of the liquid. It turns out that it was a compostable utensil made from corn. Good for the environment but not so good for hot beverages.

However, it looks like the newest biodegradable disposable cutlery out there might have withstood the heat a little bit better. Spudware is made from 80% potato starch and 20% soybean oil and takes but half a year (180 days) to break down. It's a little spendier than traditional plastic utensils, running $20 for a set of 50 forks, spoons and knives. If you're interested, you can get it here.

Via Josh Spear

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