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So, Whole Foods Market is this really “super-green” retailer with a strong Green Mission. Right? Then why are we still providing single use, disposable, non-recyclable, non-compostable, fossil plastic cutlery in our stores? Our customers ask every day why we seem to overlook our values on this. What’s up with that?
As with any decent conundrum, there are a number of ways to look at this issue. The Whole Foods Market Green Mission Specialists would like to share with you why this is one of the most complex and convoluted challenges we face in trying to put our values into action.
Here’s the gist of the problem:
As you may know, reuse is higher on the waste hierarchy than recycling or disposal. And prevention and minimization are higher still. So from a Green Mission standpoint, the best thing we could provide would be either no cutlery (so everything would have to be “finger food”) or reusable cutlery. At our Global Green Mission Congress in May of ’08, attended by about 70 company representatives (including store-level team members as well as Vice Presidents), this goal was adopted: Utilize reusable plates, bowls, coffee cups, drinking cups and serve-ware in cafes and team member break rooms (where Health Department regulations allow).
Wherever we can adopt this goal and use reusable cutlery, we should be doing so. Yes, it adds expense to a certain extent, and, yes, it requires certain operational accommodations to make it work — such as bussing, dishwashers and the like. And, no, reusable cutlery does not cover all the bases, so there is definitely a need for cutlery that customers can take with them when they’ve purchased food to go. That need can best be served by recyclable cutlery first and then by compostable cutlery.
Where possible we should be offering cutlery that can be recycled. Of the plastic resins that are known to be highly recyclable, the best choices for cutlery are either #1 PET or #5 Polypropylene. In a number of our regions, we have implemented the “Gimme 5” recycling infrastructure for recycling #5 plastics. This is a partnership with Stonyfield Farms, Organic Valley and Preserve/Recycline to promote recycling of these plastics (many of which are containers such as yogurt cups and other dairy packaging) and to return them to Preserve to be made into the housewares, picnic goods, and other items such as toothbrushes and shaving razors that this company makes and we sell. More stores are getting involved with this program.
Compostable cutlery is where we get into the “nitty gritty” of some of the most challenging issues we face in trying to put our values into action. Here’s why:
- To be truly “compostable” by our standards, a product or material needs to be certified as such by a recognized 3rd party entity. The best known in the U.S. is the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), which certifies items according to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D6400 standard, essentially requiring that items need to break down and decompose within a strict time frame, without leaving toxic residues such as heavy metals, and must not inhibit healthy seed growth in the medium into which they evolve.
- Source material for cutlery must be certified non-GMO to meet the very strict guidelines Whole foods Market adopted for the use of materials in our supply chain.
- We strongly promote the idea that source biomaterials (as they are referred to) should not be derived from food-based feedstock, such as corn, potatoes, wheat, soy, etc. — food should be used for food, not plastics or fuel.
- Any cutlery developed would need to perform at least as well as existing cutlery (in other words, not melt or dissolve in hot liquids!)
- It needs to meet our cost needs for a commodity item as vast as this is for us.
Finally, it needs to be an acceptable material for commercial-scale composting at “end of life” since this stuff doesn’t break down well in home composting environments.
The good news is that many producers and manufacturers of foodservice wares know our requirements and are scrambling to make cutlery that “gets it right.” The bad news is that very few have hit on all cylinders yet, and those that have got most of this right, are not yet cost-competitive enough to fit our supplies budgets. We firmly believe that the answer to this challenge is to hold out for the “real deal” and to aggregate our demand together with other end-users in the natural products industry, as well as other industries seeking this type of goods such as the health care and hospital industry, in order to ultimately drive the cost down through this aggregated demand.
So why don’t we just take items with some of the “right stuff” as a starting point, rather than holding out for the perfect solution? (In other words, why not settle for “less bad” as a step towards “good?”)
The answer to this may not be so apparent, but it lies in the fact that Whole Foods Market is considered to be the voice, the authority, and the standard-setter for so many things that touch our industry. Many look to us to be the barometer for trends, especially when it comes to “green” issues. Because of that, we strongly feel that we need to hold out for the most optimal solution. One that really speaks to all of the issues and values outlined above, even on so seemingly simple a category as cutlery. It is coming; it will come. And we can dramatically influence the course of that development, if we keep the faith and hold fast to our values and standards.
That’s the story with cutlery. Thanks for asking!
Lee believes his two jobs (EcoCzar and Forager) are the coolest in the company, allowing him to combine several of his passions in a way that makes work a dance. (Thanks, Coach!) With Whole Foods Market since 1996, Lee enjoys all of the many natural wonders and flavors of New England with his wife Susan and their two teenage sons.
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one of the biggest issues i find with compostable cutlery, or plates, or whatever, is that they end up in a garbage bag. so, compostable or not, they end up in the landfill… how many of our customers will put then in the backyard pile?
October 31st, 2009 at 7:12 am
Have you thought about charging for the cutlery? That tactic has greatly reduced plastic shopping bags. If I’m buying food for home consumption, I don’t need the plastic cutlery.
Same for lunch at work; I leave knife, spoon and fork in my office and wash and re-use them. I certainly wouldn’t pay for them!!
If I do get some, though, I bring them home and wash and re-use them. We need to think about it and having to pay for it keeps it top of mind.
That’s my opinion.
October 31st, 2009 at 5:21 pm
My understanding is that compostable tableware requires higher temperatures to break down than are found in backyard compost piles. What are we supposed to do with them when there’s no access to “commercial scale composting”? I hate to see these used and then thrown in the trash.
November 1st, 2009 at 9:50 am
Dear Lee and Group,
What an excellent response. I went lunch with a friend in the Lakeview Whole foods and pointed out some of the same points. Having that heirarical chart would have greatly aided, but I can already see creating some future possibilities where I can use it. Educating individuals into what they can control about their environment definitely requires individual responsibility.
Regards, Abbey Galindo
November 1st, 2009 at 10:15 am
To help with waste we reuse the plastic forks and whatnot when we can, most go in the dishwasher safely. That way if we go on a picnic or need it for luunches its there and everyone know to bring it back
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:43 am
People might want to consider something like this:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5223953
or this:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6936902
Both shops sell reusable flat wear in neat handmade cases and are super cool. I particularly like the bamboo utensils.
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:44 am
Why not offer steel cutlery for people who eat at the store and plastic for those “to go”?
Probably too worried that people will take steel “to go”. But, you’re not trying. All boils down to profits.
November 2nd, 2009 at 8:29 am
the farmers market dispenses recyclable cutlery made from a potato base and we all through them into one bin at the end, why dont you utilize that idea?
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:51 am
I also think that you should charge for the cutlery – it will make people start to think about it. I’m trying to think what people did in the past. I guess in the olden days there were no takeaways for food needing cutlery. I am trying hard to be like a boy scout and carry my little fork/knife/spoon with me, but old habits (of not carrying them) die hard…
Please see this link which shocked me to think harder about using all the plastic around us…
http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=11
November 2nd, 2009 at 10:58 am
I completely disagree with your distinction of “food is for food” not plastics. If we can reclaim corncobs or potato skins and turn them into safe compostable plastics, then it’ll be much safer and greener than anything we can create in a lab.
By refusing food-based plastics, you’re continuing the status quo for overpriced products only the richest can afford your products. The cost of these items will be passed along to us.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:00 am
Thanks for this post! I always reuse the platicware I get and then I recycle it when it had its time. I would think that the customers of your store, at least the majority, would do the same. Though, I know that with any plastic (plasticware, water bottles, etc.) the problem is not necessarily the plastic it is the people who just throw them away because it is too inconvenient to reuse or recycle them.
Oh well hopefully we will find a perfect solution one day, if not retraining humans to do the right thing.
November 2nd, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I disagree with food is food and not reuse for making cutlery. The products are made from waste of these natural resources that normally would end up in landfill or streets. For example, sugarcane, once the juice is extracted the fiber is used to make the bagasse tableware. As far as composting. You can put it with your yard waste (Green can) or if you forget, and it goes to the landfill, it still biodegrades much faster than plastic would. 2 years vs 400 years or styrofoam that never degrades. Think about that.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:12 am
A bunch of terrific responses to the cutlery blog, and much appreciated! I completely agree, on a personal level, with those who say that putting a price on an item like this forces it to have a value that it simply doesn’t if it’s free and “disposable”. (People seem to forget that “there’s no such thing as “away”!) I also agree, although I didn’t convey it earlier, that it is a “good thing” to make use of agricultural by-products that would ordinarily end up as “waste”. There is some very interesting work being done in Maine to develop a plastic from waste from the potato industry, and that is definitely an initiative worth pursuing for many reasons. More than anything, I personally appreciate and identify with keeping a set of reusable cutlery with me on my person at all times. How simple that really is, and think of how profound the impact could be if everyone adopted a solution like that!
November 4th, 2009 at 2:47 pm