Please Don’t Eat the Forks

You eat the food; the worms will eat the plates and utensils. That is, of course, if you are using Ultra Green utensils that are 100% biodegradable, compostable and sustainable according to Ultra Green CEO Phil Levin. These remarkable paper products will breakdown in a landfill in about 90 days. The cornstarch and seashell-based plastic will be gone in about 150 days. You don’t even have to throw them away. They will breakdown in a regular backyard compost pile with regular kitchen waste.

Phil Levin, CEO for Ultra Green

A complete place setting will run you about $1 if you use the Ultra Green Picnic/Party Pack which retails for $11.99 and comes in a package that doubles as a tray for chips and dip.

Toats Gets Our Votes

I must admit I was quite skeptical of these “Friendly-O” things when I first saw them. They were little brown discs that looked like they might be the kind of thing you stick in the bottom of a flower pot to feed a plant. Not much to look at themselves but the package they come in is quite nice. And the woman behind the product was hands down the most passionate person I have spoken to in the entire organic foods industry. Even their Web site is certified “Green”.

Marisol with Toats at the Organic Expo

Marisol Fernandini-Gaffney created Toats (ToatsOrganic.com) to bring the world a healthy natural snack that you can feed to humans and horses and dogs or anything else that has a mouth. Rarely will I admit to eating much less enjoying something designed to be consumed by animals as well as humans but these things are addictive. She gave me five sample packs each containing two cookies and I just at the last one. I’m already jonesing for my next fix. It’s downright frustrating to be out of them so fast!

The cookies do take a leap of faith. They do have the texture and odor of an animal snack. They are hard and grainy at first bite but by the time you swallow the first you are eyeballing the second. The next thing you know you’ve eaten ten, (beware, they are 290 calories!) The good news is that the entire experience was good for you, good for animals and good for the environment.

Trash Audits

Conducting a trash audit is a great early step in implementing a Zero-Waste Lunch program. WasteFreeLunches.org has a good example of how you might go about doing your own audit.

Setting goals and keeping track of progress is one of the most important parts of being succuessful. Everyone likes to know how they are doing and positive feedback will keep up the momentum.

Environmental Marketing Claims

When a company markets a product as “Green” or otherwise environmentally friendly they need to adhere to guidelines put out by the Federal Trade Commission.

The actual document is sort of dull reading. It contains guidelines for the following types of popular marketing claims:

• General Environmental Benefit Claims
• Degradeable/Biodegradable/Photodegradeable
• Compostable
• Recyclable
• Recycled Content
• Source Reduction
• Refillable
• Ozone Safe and Ozone Friendly

At NiceBox.org, we try to find companies that not only have nice products, but also try to practice environmentally safe business practices.

If you find a product that seems misleading, let us know. We would love to hear about it!

How to Pack a Zero Waste Lunch from Sustainable is Good

SustainableIsGood.com is a great resource. They have a similar interest as we do in that they want to know the company behind the product. For instance, they posted a great article on Marcal, a company that makes a variety of paper products.

I came across this post for How to Pack a Zero Waste Lunch on their site and kept reading their blog.

BUILT Polka Dots

We wrote an earlier post about Built, but decided that the polka-dot pattern was more blog-worthy so here is a picture:

Built NY bags are available at ReusableBags.com.

The Fish List

The Montery Bay Aquarium keeps a fantastic list of fish list organized by how well the fish population is managed and fished. We’ve all heard the nightmare stories of those poor little dolphins getting trapped in tuna nets. Well, not all tuna fishing is bad, but some still is!

Click Here for the Fish List

Zero-Waste Lunch programs are most effective when they go beyond the lunchroom and support good agriculture programs as well. Picking the wrong foods could undo some of the good work you do by packing a Zero-Waste lunch!

Nubius Organics – Lunch Bags & Systems

Nubius Organics – Lunch Bags & Systems.

Nubis Organics has a whole section on their site about lunch. It has quite a few products that fit with the mission of the Zero-Waste Lunch and the prices are quite competitive in the market.

They also have a nice “Living Green” section on their site with a handful of thoughtful articles about sustainable living.

Picnic Plus Shelby Collapsible Cooler

Picnic Plus Shelby Collapsible Cooler

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, eBags has a great selection of Zero-Waste Lunch-friendly products. This collapsible cooler folds down to nothing. It is great for travel and is available in a variety of trendy colors and styles.

Waste-Free Activity from King County, Washington

Download the King County Zero-Waste Lunch Activity Sheet!

The folks in King County, Washington have put together this activity sheet for grades 1-6. It’s a great way to get kids thinking about Zero-Waste Lunch programs and get them excited about participating.

Let us know if you find any more of these kinds of things or if your school uses them. We’re always on the lookout!