CCSE Greens at the Office
CCSE uses every opportunity possible to provide information on how to green your world, including our Energy Resource Center ( ERC) kitchen! That’s why the ERC uses only the most eco-friendly products and supplies for our workshops and events.
Most kitchens contain toxic cleaning products that can be harmful to your health and the environment. Other items, such as paper plates, polystyrene plastic cups and plastic utensils, are not biodegradable or compostable and are just plain wasteful. The ERC’s Green Kitchen contains no toxic products; you’ll find only biodegradable or compostable cups, plates, napkins and utensils made from renewable sources.
Here are some examples of eco-friendly products being used in our ERC's green kitchen:
Bagasse
We use biodegradable and compostable plates made from 100% bagasse. Bagasse is the fiber leftover after the juice is extracted from sugarcane. Sugarcane only takes one year to reach maturity, as opposed to trees that can take up to 30 years! Sugarcane is a readily renewable resource that can be turned into products normally made from plastic or paper. Bagasse is a far superior alternative to materials that are non-biodegradable, petroleum derived and pollution causing. If disposed of in a commercial composting facility, bagasse will compost in about 45 to 60 days.
Bioplastics
Instead of using non-biodegradable and harmful plastic products, we have chosen to use cups made from bioplastics. Bioplastics are a new generation of biodegradable and compostable plastics. They are derived from renewable raw materials such as starch (e.g. corn, potato, tapioca, etc), cellulose, soy protein and lactic acid. Bioplastics are not hazardous in production and decompose completely when discarded. Considering that Styrofoam takes around 500 years to break down, bioplastics are a great alternative, taking only a couple months to biodegrade.
Spudware
Spudware is a natural, sustainable alternative to plastic utensils. These biodegradable and compostable utensils are made from plant-derived resins such as potato starch and soy oil. Spudware used in the ERC contains a mix of 80% potato starch and 20% soy oil. Even though they are marked as biodegradable, these utensils can also be reused! Currently, an estimated 39 billion pieces of disposable utensils mostly made from nonrenewable plastics are used in the U.S. each year. This amounts to about 11% of all municipal waste.
