Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Did you know you can get plastic cups made from corn?


As a follow up to the whole Seattle plastic bags ban, I stumbled across a totally biodegradable "plastic" cup made from corn when I was in Hawaii last week. My smoothie tasted good, and for a moment I felt less guilty until I realized the cup was going to end up back in the trash (Hawaii doesn't have the same recycling we do). But then I read that it composts so it doesn't have to be recycled. How cool is that?
Here's what one website had to say. "An environmental alternative to conventional plastic cups, these compostable cups are clear and are made from an annually renewable resource – corn! The cups are odorless, non-allergenic & completely compostable under commercial conditions. To dispose of them, toss them in a compost bin. They will completely compost under commercial composting conditions in just 45-60 days."
I'd patronize businesses the promoted this, wouldn't you?
Posted by at 3:11 PM
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3 comments:

  1. The question is, do the establishments who carry these cups made of corn have compostable bins available upon diposal of the cup? I was at the San Diego Zoo last week and all of their eating utensils and cups were made of corn. Very forward thinking. However, the only recepatcles available for disposal were for trash. And they were lined with a plastic bag. If a compostable item ends up in a landfill, it is possible that it could take many years to break down. Put it in a plastic bag and it takes even longer, it at all. There have been 50 year old newspapers found in landfills that are in perfect condition. There is just not enough circulation in landfills to give these compostable items any chance to do their job. I think that corn cups and utensils are a great idea, but if the establishment isn't putting an entire composting and/or recycling program in place, they might as well save their money on costly corn cups.
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  2. Always good to hear from you Cammismom. Let me look a further into this....good point! Anyone?
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  3. The article says they will compost in 45-60 under "commercial" composting. That is not back yard composting. From what Ive read, it requires much different equipment and extremely high temperatures. So basically, they will probably end up in the trash with everything else unless a commercial composting is available. Its a big plus not to use petroleum but still not a perfect solution.
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