Should Styrofoam and plastic utensils go the way of the dinosaur?
I attended a pancake breakfast fundraiser the other day, and was bothered to see the group using Styrofoam cups and throwaway plastic utensils. I had a mug in the car, but haven’t gotten around to buying travel bamboo utensils such as those found on the link below.
It seems like the cups should have been paper, and the utensils the compostable kind. (See 2nd link.).
Your thoughts? Isn’t it time for such events to go green?
http://www.taraluna.com/garden/picnic.htm
http://www.worldcentric.org/biocompostables/utensils
Styrofoam and plastic utensils should go the way of the steel beverage can. Once heavy steel cans were replaced by lighter, and more frequently recycled aluminum cans.
With the introduction of biodegradable products and expanded recycling options, large fundraisers and festivals have more options to go green. At the 2008 Columbus Green Day Festival, all biodegradables, including the starch-based utinsils, were composted, and bottles and cans were recycled. Most of our various festivals recycle plastic and aluminum cans, but there’s plenty room for improvement.
Most vendors and fundraising committees would consider using biodegradables, but are concerned about the cummulative financial costs more than they are their carbon footprint. I wonder how much that pancake breakfast committee would pay for biodegradables. If they don’t mind paying 75%-125% more for their utinsils, than the time is right.
When I visit places or events where there seems to be a lot of waste or no reclycling, I start to question the key people. Sometimes it leads to earth changing results. Hopefully you can plant a few seeds in the organizer’s heads from that pancake breakfast. When given alternatives, sometimes people choose environment over the bottom line. Some groups are better than others than making environmental choices. If this were a school fundraiser, I’m sure the kids and parents would feel great if they knew their utinsils and plates were going to be composted, or at least biodegradable. Perhaps a little discussion will allow the next pancake breakfast to go green.
“Fortress in snow” Ahartry’s photos around Suwon, Korea Rep.
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