Ditch plastic spoons: 5 eco-friendly alternatives

As France bans disposable plastic cutlery, closer home, these are the biodegradable solutions you can adopt to save the environment

France has banned disposable plastic cutlery. You too can adopt these biodegradable solutions to save the environment

Cutlery by Shunya Alternatives(Photo: Shunya Alternatives)

1) Sugarcane and birchwood: Mumbai-based Shunya Alternatives, run by the brother-sister duo of Yash and Sachi Maniar, source plates, bowls and glasses made of sugarcane fibre and birch wood from artisans in Delhi.

Rs 275 for 25 plates; Rs 135 for 50 bowls; Rs 100 for 25 forks/spoons
Decomposes: In 4 months
Visit: facebook.com/ShunyaAlternatives/?fref=ts

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Edible spoons by Bakeys Foods (Photo: Bakeys)

2) Edible jowar spoons: Made using a flour mix of jowar, rice and wheat, Bakeys Foods offers lunch spoons. Once you have used the spoon, if you are not keen on eating it, you can add water and it decomposes naturally. It can even be fed to stray animals. Bakeys Foods is a venture by Narayana Peesapaty, a former researcher with The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Andhra Pradesh.

Rs 200 for 100 spoons
Decomposes: In 2 years (if kept air-tight); instantly, if you add water
Visit: bakeys.com

Read: How to save the planet, a spoon at a time

Cutlery by Pappco Greenware made from agricultural waste (Photo: Pappco Greenware)

3) Recycled agricultural waste: Pappco Greenware, another city-based venture, offers plates, glasses and packaging boxes made from agricultural waste like sugarcane bagasse and bamboo fibres, sourced from north India and China.

Rs 4 a piece to Rs 8 a piece for a plate; Rs 2.50 per piece for bowls; Rs 2 per piece for spoons and fork
Decomposes: In 3 months
Visit: pappcoindia.com

Spoons by Save Globe (Photo: Save Globe)

4) Cornstarch cutlery: Bengaluru-based Save Globe supplies wooden cutlery, edible cutlery (made using wheat flour and sugar), corn starch cutlery, and areca plant leaf tableware.

Rs 250 for 100 edible spoons
Decomposes: In 40 days
Visit: saveglobe.in

Areca plant cutlery by Anahata (Photo: Anahata)

5) Areca leaf plates: Anahata, a 5-month-old venture run by Mumbai-based former copywriter Alok Banerjee makes soup bowls, plates, and spoons using areca leaves.

Rs 90 for a set of 25 bowls; Rs 55 for a set of 10 spoons
Decomposes: In 3-4 months
Visit: facebook.com/anahataearthlovingalternatives