Twenty Fifty Fork

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, ...

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...

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 GoSu...

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...

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  ...

You’ve heard of Starbucks’ pledge to eliminate all their plastic drinking straws globally by 2020. You’ve seen California, Hawaii and New York all banning plastic bags on a statewide level. But have you seen France, hitting it out of the park by becoming the first country in the world to ban plastic plates, cups and utensils. Starting in 2020, the sweeping ban will go into law in an effort to curb the effects of global warming. From there on, the only disposable cutlery and plates allowed will be those made from compostable, biosourced materials, such as TwentyFifty Spoons. TwentyFifty vs other 'compostable' brands TwentyFifty vs other 'compostable' brands (On the left, a current 'compostable' spoon, on the right a TwentyFifty spoon after 10 days) The ban is a welcome ruling to fight the ongoing plastic crisis occurring right now, worldwide. Did you know literally billions of plastic forks, knives and spoons are thrown away each year? And...

One of the worst contributors to the global waste crisis is plastic cutlery. Each year, approximately 40 billion plastic utensils are thrown away after one use. And that's in the United States alone. But what if we had the convenience of disposable cutlery that was also made of 100% natural grains - corn, soy & wheat? Basically, what if we had edible spoons? Edible spoons would solve several problems at once. First, it would massively cut down on plastic as a waste product. More than 8.3 billion tons of plastic has been produced since the 1950s, sixty percent of which is in a landfill or the natural environment. Second, the product life cycle would be very small, as materials could be sourced from farmers, manufactured, then sold back to them. Innovators across the world are coming up with such solutions. One such inventor is Narayana Peesapaty, who has designed cutlery made from millet, rice, and wheat flour. Such solutions are coming none too soon as India is an eve...