Biodegradable utensils are not a new concept by any stretch of
the imagination. Before plastics came along, china and ceramic dishes were used
and when they broke and were dumped in the ground, they didn’t harm the soil as
much.
However, plastic and thermocol utensils, especially disposable ones, are
just not biodegradable. Since they are intended for single use only which only
compounds the problem even more.
However, designer Qiyan Deng has come up with
a new range of disposable utensils that are completely biodegradable. Dubbed Bioplastic,
polylactic acid (PLA) is used to make these utensils which are basically corn
starch and vegetable oils and fats which makes them very planet friendly
indeed.
The designer created the range of Bioplastic utensils for
her master’s diploma project and has named it Graft which may be a bit unusual
for a range of utensils and tableware that look like vegetables!
The designer
also ensured that the vegetable fats and oils for the creation of utensils to
be used for certain foods did not “clash” with the taste of the food itself.
Hence,
she used oranges to create a goblet that is more likely to be used for citrusy
wines and would thus not interfere with the taste of the beverage itself. Similarly,
vegetables like carrot etc are used to make the forks that are more likely to
be used with salads and hence they won’t alter the taste of the food in any
way.
One of the biggest pluses for the Graft range of Bioplastic
utensils is that it still maintains the look and feel of regular plastic disposables
with the huge upside being that all of it can be composted successfully once
discarded. The only real problem with this kind of utensils may be that they
may begin to rot after a certain time and may attract bugs if left in storage
for too long.
