Sometimes, being environmentally conscious can feel like a burden. This is often true when buying kitchenware. When people throw parties, or host large groups of people, it’s customary to break out plastic silverware, red plastic cups, and flimsy plastic plates and bowls. When the night is over and everybody leaves, you’ll find that you’re stuck with dozens and dozens of eating utensils made of cheap plastic, receptacles that are horrible for the environment.
No one should have to choose between having a conscience and having fun, which is why environmentally friendly kitchenware is a booming industry. Now you can have your cake and eat it too, all on a biodegradable plate. Here’s all you need to know about sustainable kitchenware.
Available Products
Thanks to a boom in the green kitchen supply business, you can now get virtually anything you need in an environmentally friendly option. Plates, bowls, and glasses big and small are available for the environmentally conscious. Disposable forks, knives, and spoons are no longer inherently damaging for the earth. Just about any utensil you could ever need is available in an eco-friendly design.
Environmental Benefits
The best of these products are compostable, meaning that you can simply add them to your compost pile when you’re finished with them. According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s regulations, any product labeled as compostable should successfully compost within six months. While you can compost these items, you can also put them in the trash, where they will also ultimately decompose successfully. It is important to remember that not all eco-friendly kitchenware products can be composted, even if they are biodegradable.
One of the most popular materials for making environmentally conscious kitchenware is the potato. Potatoes are excellent products to use in kitchenware, and as the potatoes used for food receptacles are a different breed than those used for food — they’re too starchy to eat, and they grow without irrigation systems — they make for an extremely sustainable product.
Purchasing Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Kitchen Products
You can usually find eco-friendly plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware at a high quality natural food store. Because of their rising popularity, however, you can also often find them at larger corporate stores and warehouses that aren’t usually known for their environmentally conscious products. If you can’t seem to find these kitchenware products at any of your local stores, you can buy them online.
How much do they cost?
Even outside of the kitchen, a general rule is that environmentally conscious products cost more money than their more harmful counterparts. While this is true of kitchenware as well, the price difference is often negligible. You’ll have to spend more money for sustainable and eco-friendly plates than traditional plastic ones, but won’t break the bank doing so. They also work nearly as effectively as traditional products.
With products like these, you won’t have to fret or feel guilty the next time you’re hosting people. You can use disposable plates, glasses, bowls, and silverware without feeling like you harmed the environment.
This article was provided by Charity Bailey, Environmental Studies major. If you’re looking for another way to make your kitchen –or entire home– more sustainable, Charity recommends checking out replacement windows in Houston, TX. Replacing old windows will keep warm air locked in and cold air out, cutting down energy costs and in turn, your environmental impact.
Current U.S. composting standards (ASTM D6400) are based on conditions found in an industrial composting facility. Unfortunately, most consumers in the U.S. do not have easy access to these facilities. PLA is the most common compostable plastic, but it does not biodegrade quickly in a home compost pile and will remain for years. Moreover, when compostable items are placed in the trash they will probably not biodegrade either. Municipal waste is most often disposed in landfills that are designed to prevent decomposition. The best solution is to reuse utensils, plates and glasses when possible.