Any Way You Slice It

Corn utensils not helpful without widespread public composting

Posted at 1:47 PM on 18 Jun 2008

As an alternative to non-recyclable plastic and Styrofoam, some restaurants have begun offering corn-starch-based utensils and takeout containers. But does cornware really provide a guilt-free way to eat your vegesustainorganaturalocal meal? Though touted as compostable, corn-based utensils can't just be thrown into your garden; they don't biodegrade unless professionally composted at high temperatures. Thus, customers who take corn utensils away from restaurants usually end up contributing to landfills anyway, since they're unlikely to bring cornware back to the establishment to be dealt with properly. And trying to boil 'em down yourself doesn't work, as restaurant manager Casey Anderson can attest: "It'll only turn the fork into a twisted-up, weird science experiment."

source: Los Angeles Times
see also, in Grist: Restaurant biz hops onto the green bandwagon

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Comments: (12 comments)

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Husker Don't

You forgot the most important thing -- it still takes tons more energy to make a "corn fork" than a good old plastic one. The corn fork has to take the product of a refinery, put it in a bag, put it in the earth and then have the corn plant eat it, then be ground up and turned into butter knives.

by jabailo at 2:30 PM on 18 Jun 2008

Manufacturing impact.

I'm so glad this issue is being addressed. It's a bit disturbing how being "green" is just becoming a marketing scheme, with few solid solutions being presented.

But I do wonder, what is the difference in environmental impact of the manufacturing of a plant-based fork versus a traditional plastic one. I know jabailo addressed the energy involved, but what about other resources (petroleum, synthetic chemicals, etc.)?

Maybe when the federal government decides to implement mandatory national ID cards they should just make them in the shape of a spork. Problem solved.

by VinceMCamiolo at 2:58 PM on 18 Jun 2008

Less Toxic

The reality is that corn-based forks are less toxic to the environment and use less toxic chemicals to manufacture and dispose.

It doesn't matter if a corn-based plastic or paper-board container is landfilled, incinerated, composted, or burned in a backyard burning barrel.

The reality is less toxins are produced regardless of disposal method. Landfills leak toxins, even good incinerators send them up the stack.

Which would you rather be next to? A bonfire with styrofoam containers and plastic forks, or one with paperboard?

by nycowboy at 6:57 PM on 18 Jun 2008

Something is missing here

Since when is it so difficult to anticipate ordering take-out? A set of flatware can be easily stored in a purse, a briefcase or even a jacket pocket (I saw something about chopsticks in a bra in Japan a few months ago). Why the great need for disposables?

by human power at 11:12 PM on 18 Jun 2008

People are going to need...........

......... containers and utensils when ordering take out. For the moronic Environmentalists who want people to change their fundamental behavior, listen carefully - IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. If your strategy is to "get people to change" then you're screwed. Your strategy HAS TO BE how do we maintain and improve current lifestyles while making those lifestyles compatible with keeping the environment sustainable. Wake up and learn to understand the nature of the world you live in.

Victory in Pattani

by MAD MAC at 5:57 AM on 19 Jun 2008
[ Parent ]

I disagree...

When Rome ran out of lumber, it invaded Gaul. When they ran out of arable land, they took over North Africa. At the height of empire, they were importing most of the basic staples of life from other areas, including wheat for bread and wood for heat/construction. And then the Roman Empire disappeared.

Yes, lifestyles will change. So MadMac, I disagree with you. We can either decide to make the change now to a more sustainable lifestyle or, eventually, the chickens are going to be called in to roost. We're already having difficulty maintaining our own empire. We, like Rome, import the basic staples of life...oil, oil, and oil. It's becoming increasingly difficult to ensure a steady supply...the dole is about to end.

Il faut cultiver notre jardin.

by John former Marine at 6:08 AM on 19 Jun 2008

Lifestyles may change, but people won't do so...

... voluntarily. Yes, MAYBE (and this might not come to fruition - too many variables) when oil is no longer an affordable commodity and no adequate replacements are found, then yes, people will be compelled to adjust to new realities. But that's what it will take.

Make no mistake, the Green movement isn't about that. The Green movement, as a whole (there are certainly many exceptions here) WANT the system to collapse, because they are opposed fundamentally to modernization. There are hidden agendas at work within the movement. The Green movement wants fast food restaurants to disappear, regardless of how "sustainable" they become. They want industry and cars and modern cities to disappear too. That's why there's so much in the movement in way of "changing lifestyle" - because that's the agenda in the first place.

Victory in Pattani

by MAD MAC at 6:33 AM on 19 Jun 2008
[ Parent ]

Earth First!

What people like Mad Mac don't get and/or don't care about is that humans are only one of millions of species on this planet, that they are no better or more important than any other species, but that their behavior over the past at least 10,000 years has caused major ecological harm. This is the reason that those of us who care about other species and the land, air, and water FOR THEIR OWN SAKES, demand that humans simplify their lifestyles and live more naturally. But if you don't care about any of these things, we just look like a bunch of kooks who want to make everyone miserable. This perspective is caused by an extreme spiritual and moral vacuity, which unfortunately is the norm in modern society.

by Wolverine at 12:09 PM on 19 Jun 2008

Nature made man right?

So nature must have screwed up and made one species so thoroughly dominant that the other species were cannon fodder.

You can't go backwards. Collectively it is IMPOSSIBLE (not just improbable) to uninvent what's been invented, even if we wanted to. Personally I would prefer not to go back to the days of medicine and dentistry of five hundred years ago.

And it is a mistake to assume that people who don't share your version of spirituality have none. It is funny how whackos always assume they are morally superior to those around them. Adolf Hitler exhibited EXACTLY the same traits.

Victory in Pattani

by MAD MAC at 8:55 PM on 19 Jun 2008
[ Parent ]

What 'bout litter?...

...though I understand the importance of the debate over the impact of corn-based utensils on landfills, what I wanna know is how they do when people just throw 'em outta their vehicles and into the grassy median on the side of the road.

Will they decompose then, in an open environment exposed to the elements?

If they do, (and I don't know if they do) then that alone should sway the argument in their favor. That way, even if they take up the same space as plastic utensils in garbage dumps, at least they won't be contributin' (long-term) to the litter that's just thrown by the wayside.

by Tasermons Partner at 9:22 PM on 19 Jun 2008

biodegradable utensils

Maybe we had experimental versions, but at UW Green Bay our canteens are offering the choice of regular plastic or biodegradable, so I opted to try the biodegradable. I was about halfway through my soup when I pulled up the spoon and the entire spoon end was gone. There was only the handle left. The spoon had disolved in my soup! I decided that they were only for use with cold foods.
Maybe they don't degrade in the garbage, but they do degrade in hot soup.

by ladyrockstar at 10:37 AM on 23 Jun 2008

medicine and dentistry?

I'm pretty sure that the archaeological record shows that before the age of refine grains, people had healthier teeth than they do today (unless they used them to tan leather, break up yucca fibers, or other chores).

As for medicine, sure 500 years ago, things were pretty bad. When the Catholic church called natural healers "heretics" and "witches", the only things they allowed were based on the Four Humors. Blood letting, etc.

Before 500 years ago, however, we had some pretty good medicine. In many ways, better than today. In fact, the "father of medicine" said "Let food be your medicine". And I don't know many doctors who will tell you what or what not to eat. Most of them hand out pills. If you call pill-vending medicine, then I'd say even the Four Humors was better.

Il faut cultiver notre jardin.

by John former Marine at 10:46 AM on 23 Jun 2008

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