Green plastic alternatives

[Opsa]

I just had a beverage out of a cup that read "Made From Corn" and "Compostable" on the side. I took it home and looked it up and it's from a company called Eco-Products. Looks like they have some good ideas about environmentally friendly products that cut down on waste.

[Lindorm]

COOP, one of the big grocery chains here in Sweden, tried to market them some years ago.  Among their marketing gimmicks was tastings, where you could try nibbling on pieces of the cups and plates, together with the dip of your choice. Perfectly edible, but tasted (surprise!) much like cardboard. They failed, due to the decidedly higher price of the items compared to ordinary paper-based cups and plates. However, those products have not completely disappeared from the Swedish market, and you can still buy them here and there -not least from various online stores. 

It's a nice idea, but I do wonder a bit about how high the environmental benefits are with cornstarch compared to waxed paper made out of recycled fibres -or even a porcelain cup that's washable and reusable!. Still, if you use cornstarch instead of styrofoam, the benefits ought to be significant.

[Swatopluk]

Stoneware is definitely best but unusable for takeaways.
Maybe the starch ones could be literally spiced up a bit
Some companies use real popcorn as packing material but consumption is discouraged.

[Opsa]

Hmm, hadn't thought about the cost. The dinnerware we experienced was at our local hospital, so perhaps they have a bigger budget for such things than your average hot dog vendor.

I found another website here that speaks more about the compostable aspect. Apparently regular cups are lined with petroleum products and these are lined with corn products. There are also sugar cane based disposable dinnerware items, as well.

Interestingly, both corn and sugar cane are the leading sources of ethanol.

[Aggie]

I've been seeing some reusable, landfill-biodegradable corn-starch based dishware in the local Loblaw's stores (multiple brands, same chain) lately, that don't look half-bad for summer patioware.  I'm not sure how long they'll hold up to everyday use, especially if put through a dishwasher, but might be worth a try as a substitute for crappy melamine dishware, if one is prone to such things.  They did look nice.

[Opsa]

There was something in the reading material about storing out of direct sunlight, so i don't know how well these would hold up. Probably better to get cheap china and glassware and just wash.

[Aggie]

This other sort was supposedly biodegradable-when-buried in a landfill - I suspect that they are broken down by acids, perhaps, as acidic conditions are the norm.  That would make them dishwater-soap resistant, too (but bad for vinegary sauces).

[Opsa]

I guess I would be concerned about how they'd hold up to the heat-and-water combo.

[Aggie]

Eh, I'm not planning to buy them anyhow, just curious.  Corelle is my mainstay for daily use, as it's cheap and durable.  Glass and stoneware is not a big deal for eventual landfilling, as it's just earth anyways.

Good to know there are other disposable options, though.  I know that some places in Canada are planning to ban plastic lids on to-go cups, if they have not already.  Coffee is proving to be a bit of a challenge.

[Opsa]

Yes, even the Biodegradable Store apologetically sells the non-biodegradable hot cup lids.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Yes, even the Biodegradable Store apologetically sells the non-biodegradable hot cup lids.

That is surprising to me:  I recall, as a very young chile, eating little cups of ice cream with little attached wooden "spoons" (more like a small spoon-shaped spatula made of thin wood).  The ice cream was in a paper container, with little paper lids you'd carefully peel away (and then lick off the ice-creamy goodness clinging to the underside). 

My point is these containers were entirely compost-able, being paper and wood.   The paper was coated on the inside with wax, but that's a natural substance too.

Oh, and these cost $0.02 each.... came in 3 flavors:  "chocolate", "vanilla" and "pink".   

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I guess wax doesn't work well with hot liquids...

[Swatopluk]

Depends on the chain length of the paraffin. If the wax melts, the coffee was definitely too hot!

[Aggie]

Most coffee cups were wax-lined AFAIK (although I suspect a synthetic polymer these days). 

As for wax being a 'natural' substance, while it's true that many vegetable and animal sources exist and are even used commercially, I've seen too many tubs of paraffin pigging waste* to have any illusions about where common industrial wax comes from.

[oilpatch_lecture]*I couldn't find a photo of the waste, but basically to clean a pipeline the operators shove a plastic or foam "pig" (which can be spherical, look like a giant foam ear-plug or resemble some sort of extreme sex toy - see below) in the production end of the pipe, and then put enough pressure behind it to send it through, scraping off the junk from the inside surface of the pipeline as it goes.  Paraffin wax buildup is common in certain fields.  I strongly suspect that some of the waste companies handling this stuff would recover the paraffin, as most have reprocessing and recycling facilities.[/oilpatch_lecture]

[Opsa]

Aw... they look like Dr. Who robots.

I remember the little ice cream lids with spoons. I think with the hot stuff there could be a vented cone-shaped bit of waxed cardboard that could snap under the lip of the cup. Would that work?