- Sustainability problem (Primarily Waste, but also addresses Water and Health):
It is no surprise that we generate a lot of waste in this day and age. Of that waste, “40 million tons of reusable plastic cutlery get thrown out every year, most of them after a single use.” It also takes a long time for plastic to break down (up to 1,000 years) and plastic has been found to contain toxins that pose risks to the environment and to humans.
(more information about plastic about be found here: https://myplasticfreelife.com/2007/07/whats-wrong-with-plastic-anyway/)
- Edible Cutlery can help the problem:
- Bakey’s Edible Cutlery can help achieve zero waste by eliminating plastic cutlery
- If you don’t want to eat it, the product can degrade naturally in less than 3 days
- No exposure to toxins associated with plastics since the edible cutlery is 100% natural made of flour with no added chemicals or preservatives
- Product is made of millets, which will encourage farmers to grow this crop instead of rice, which consumes 60 times more water than millets
Sources:
- Company Website: http://www.bakeys.com/
- Business Insider, A startup made edible spoons to save us from plastic — and they’re delicious (http://www.businessinsider.com/we-tried-the-edible-cutlery-that-crowdsourced-278874-heres-what-we-found-2016-4/#on-a-typical-day-at-work-whether-i-bring-my-lunch-or-buy-it-i-usually-pick-up-disposable-plastic-cutlery-1)
- Forbes, India’s Edible Cutlery Points The Way For A Zero-Waste Future (https://www.forbes.com/sites/micakelmachter/2016/03/30/indias-edible-cutlery-paves-the-way-for-asia-to-dream-of-zero-waste/#39baba01ef93)
- Stakeholders:
- All restaurants, but especially fast food/fast casual restaurants where plastic cutlery is more common
- General consumers
- Next Steps:
- Establish a trial group of sustainability-conscious restaurants willing to replace plastic cutlery with Bakey’s for a limited amount of time
- When successful, use case study to convert additional restaurants into Bakey’s users
- After establishing a degree of product recognition by consumers, improve website to better tell the company’s story and explain the benefits of edible cutlery
Columbia UNI: Lc3291
makeasmartcity 
This product initially looks cool and sustainable. However an LCA analysis was done using metal spoons, ceramic spoons, plastic spoons, and edible spoons, and it was concluded that the traditional metal spoons were the best and edible spoons were one of the worst. The reason was that edible spoons require a lot of land space/water and other resources to make (Given the current global demand).
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This is an awesome product. I can see mountain climbers and campers using these products. In mountain climbing, weight is important and rubbish is dead weight. Rather than using water to clean utensils it is a interesting idea the utensils are serve dual purposes.
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I could see this product applied in zoos, nature preserves and national parks where waste is potentially harmful to wildlife so “carry in and carry out” policies are in place.
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With a ban on plastics by the Government of India, this product edible cutlery is in boom right now. Many organizations public/private are highly marketing this product and so far no concerns have been raised on health aspect.
here is a link which i would want to share with you guys.
https://www.thebetterindia.com/30465/edible-cutlery-in-india/
http://www.bakeys.com/
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I’ve seen some videos about edible spoons originating in Asia. I love this idea and it could definitely help address all that plastic cutlery that is “one-time” use for most consumers. I hope this compostable, biodegradable product movement continues to push on forward 🙂
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Usually I am very skeptical of the amount of energy and water that this products consume, but the efforts of Sarah Munir in this product are clear. “Of the energy it takes to produce 1 plastic utensil, we can produce 100 sorghum based spoons. And in comparison to Corn/PLA, we are able to produce 50.” “Our low usage of water in the production of each spoon (Less than 2% of the weight per spoon), allows our spoons to have a very long shelf life up to 2 years while maintaining their crispness.” http://worldcentric.org/sustainability/energy-savings
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