Posts

Choosing Compostable or Plastic Utensils for Take Out

Image
What is better during the Coronavirus Pandemic? (Or any time) We may be social distancing, but we still have to eat. On one hand, supporting local restaurants, cafes and coffee shops is so much more important now than ever before. But on the other hand, you may be worried about the safety of to-go orders. The truth is, no type of shopping is currently hazard free, but the risks of not eating far outweigh the risks of what would happen otherwise. Here are a few tips on how to stay as safe as possible AND get the yummiest food available:  1) Pick Carefully: Stick to restaurants that you know well, and that have been awarded top ratings from your local health department. The FDA states there is no evidence of coronavirus being spread by food, but a general rule of thumb ordering cooked food is your best bet. Cooked food is cleared of any virus (COVID-19 or other) that it potentially had in it before it was cooked. 2) Avoid Human Contact:  For Delivery: It’s bel
1 comment
Read more

ECO Friend(ly) Giveaway!

With all this social distancing and self isolation, we've found ourselves staying at home more and more. But with all the take outs (supporting small business, #amIright!) it's easy to create more plastic waste than usual. To make it a little easier on you to socially distance sustainably and finally ditch that single use plastic for good, we've teamed up with 4 AMAZING eco-friendly brands for this sweet giveaway. You have the chance to win almost $200 worth of zero-waste, compostable, re-usable and ethically made goodies from TwentyFifty, Bees Wrap, WOKEN Coffee and Serenade The Company. Prizes include: 1x 48 Pack of 100% Compostable, 2050 Spoons 3x Assorted Packs of Bees Wrap (SUSTAINABLE, NATURAL PLASTIC WRAP ALTERNATIVE) 4x Boxes of Woken Espresso Pods 1x Sustainable Shampoo Bar 1x Natural Lip Balm 1x Sustainable Natural Perfume Balm 1x Tomato Face Soap 1x Sustainable Body Soap Biodegradable. Resuable. Zero Waste. To know
1 comment
Read more

6 Inspiring Kids Fighting Waste Before Their 19th Birthdays

Image
It’s easy to become discouraged by today’s environmental issues. The world is so large that creating change feels like steering a battleship with a bad rudder. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t hope. Just like we took a stance on plastic, polluting cutlery and created 100% biodegradable spoons and forks, these kids under 19 years old are making things happen before they’ve even graduated high school. They give us inspiration that we can all make changes to live a less wasteful lifestyle. The Elephant In the Room Anyone reading an article with this title will immediately think of Greta Thunberg. She’s a courageous activist, especially in the face of hateful backlash. She’s charismatic, driven, and you can read all about her in places like TIME magazine and on BBC.com. She even has an upcoming TV series. But for the purposes of this list, we want to focus on less-famous — but still incredibly inspiring — youth leading the way. 6 Inspiring Kids Doing Their Part
1 comment
Read more

5 Facts About Biodegradable Plastic You Need to Know NOW!

Image
With global warming, rising pollution, and a greater awareness for sustainability, you may be looking for more eco-friendly solutions to your daily life. If you are, you probably have come across the buzz words ‘recyclable,’ ‘compostable’ and ‘biodegradable’ a time or two. But be wary - ‘biodegradable’ doesn’t necessarily mean eco-friendly, despite all the hype they get. It turns out biodegradable and compostable labeling can be misleading. Here’s 5 things to consider when you’re shopping to ensure you’re being a sustainable and eco-friendly as possible. TwentyFifty Spoon A TwentyFifty, 100% biodegradable spoon   1. Not all biodegradable items are born equal  A true biodegradable product can be easily returned to the earth. There should be no complicated recycling process, no special facilities, and only simple ingredients, like plants. But some products labeled as biodegradable are not made from plants - they’re made from petrochemical resources, aka lab-m
1 comment
Read more

Are Compostable utensils really Compostable?

Image
Since the world has woken up to the single use plastic crisis out there, and more and more people are looking to lead a zero waste life, grocery stores and take out cafeterias are carrying more and more alternatives to the common plastic fork. Many of these new options are labeled by their manufacturer as compostable and biodegradable. But are they really? Are all utensils labeled compostable really compostable and biodegradable? The simple answer is NO! Compostable and many biodegradable plastics are made from naturally occurring polymers such as starch or cellulose. It is at this point confusion is created and compostable/biodegradable plastics misrepresented as "not plastic”. Although a natural polymer is used (e.g. derived from a crop, like corn), the utensils are still man-made in a laboratory via a chemical reaction in the same way as synthetic polymers. As a result the ‘compostable or biodegradable’ materials they are being marketed as are still, ess
1 comment
Read more

Two Real Solutions to End Single Use Plastic Waste

Image
At the end of November, a young male sperm whale died after becoming stranded on a Scottish island. A ball of debris - weighing 220 pounds - was found in his stomach. That debris was made up of plastic - sections of net, plastic cups and tubing to name a few. He’s not alone. This whale in Italy, this whale in the Philippines and this pregnant whale with her unborn fetus have all suffered similar fates.  Who’s to blame? We are. Plastics make up the entire top 10 items list collected during the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup, with plastic forks, knives and spoons taking the number 4 spot (they found 1,968,065!). If this trend continues, by the year 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean by weight, than fish. So what can we do. We can make better, more sustainable choice! Here are a couple of solutions to combat the single use plastic problem, and keep the whales - and oceans - happy and healthy for years to come. To Take With You GoSun Fl
1 comment
Read more

10 Ways to Go Green This Holiday Season

Image
Between Thanksgiving and New Year, Americans generate roughly 6 to 10 million extra tons of waste. That's a lot of waste. Between the disposable plates, plastic forks and paper cups, it quickly adds up. But it doesn’t have to. Ditch the single use plastic, and go compostable instead. Here are 10 ways to reduce your waste - and increase your sustainability points - this holiday season. Say NO to Single Use Plastic Silverware. It may be tempting to bust out the plastic forks for this year’s Thanksgiving feast, but don’t. Plastic pollution is a global crisis, with around 8 million metric tons of plastic dumped into the world’s oceans every year. That’s the equivalent of pouring a garbage truck of plastic in the water every minute. Switch your plastic for TwentyFifty compostable forks and spoons. TwentyFifty offers the only truly compostable cutlery out there (read: cutlery that doesn’t require a commercial composter that gets to at least 200 degrees F to break them down) t
1 comment
Read more