Sunday, June 22, 2008

Sustainable "To-Go Ware" Instead of Plastic

A month ago I might have thought this was nutty. But after a week-long event where 2,000+ of us were fed three meals a day with disposable plastic plates and cutlery — and where I was wiping off my plastic fork and spoon and carrying them around in my bag all week because all the trash was really getting to me — heck, I carry a water bottle and I use a travel coffee mug, so “travel cutlery“ seems like the natural next step. If I end up spending a week grading AP exams at this event again next year, I’m putting this cool To-Go Ware CONSERVE Utensil Set in my survival kit.

Three things I especially like: The utensils are made of bamboo, which is a nice sustainable resource. The To-Go Ware company was founded by a then-college student who was alarmed by the growing disposable take-out culture around her and decided to do something about it — which BTW reminded me of last month’s post about the Eco-Clamshell, also the brainchild of a young female college student. And the little carrying bag is made by CONSERVE, an NGO in Delhi that employs otherwise unemployed women to collect discarded plastic bags and recycle them into into these utensil carriers. Neat idea, neat company, neat product.

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Photo © 2008 To-Go Ware®.

2 comments:

christine thelen said...

I think it's a great idea, but they're way too expensive.

jen x said...

Christine: While nothing is going to be as cheap as plastic short-term (before factoring in the environmental costs), I don't think these are particularly expensive. The To-Go Ware web site sells the utensil set and carrier for $19.95. My local Whole Foods has them for the same price (which also eliminates the shipping charge). Our co-op does sells a more cheaply made knife, spoon, and fork set (made by a company called Bambu, I think). for about $8.99 without a carrier. The cheapest alternative, of course, is to pack one's own utensils from home!