Recently, I was asked to try out reusable, biodegradable plates made from only leaves and water. Just leaves and water? And reusable? This caught my interest. They’re made by a company called Verterra that bases its name on a Latin term meaning “true to the Earth”.
The plates are made with 3 different kinds of leaves that would normally have been burned on the side of the road. The outer layer provides water resistance from leaves with a thick wax cuticle. The next layer uses leaves that absorbs moisture and the middle contains leaves with sap. When you put them all together with a little steam, heat, and pressure, it makes for plates that are durable and usable up to about 8-10 times with a quick wash of warm soap and water. Their site does say, however, that tomato sauces and beets can stain the plates, which I did find to be true after using some salad dressing with sun dried tomatoes.
Other interesting features of the plates are:
- All natural, chemical and bleach free
- Non-toxic
- No plastics or waxes
- 100% compostable
- Made of 100% renewable plant materials
- Biodegrades naturally in 2 months
- Microwave, oven and refrigerator-safe
- No trees are cut down–made from only fallen leaves
The plates come in different shapes and sizes that range from packs of 10 or 12 from $8.99 – $12.99. So yes, they are more expensive than your ordinary paper plates but they’re a lot more Earth friendly, use safer materials, biodegrade in about 2 months, and are made by a company that provides hundreds of fair-wage jobs in developing regions in South Asia. So the next time you’re planning a BBQ, picnic or hiking trip, you now have an alternative to often wax or paraffin coated disposables that look beautiful and really make an eco-statement.
Ooh, I love these. I’m going to have to check their website to see where I can get them locally.
Hi Jen, I consult for Verterra, and they’re primarily available online at the moment, but if you’re in NYC or LA they are in stores. Broadway Panhandler and All Shades of Green http://www.allshadesofgreen.net/ More to come. I’ve had my own set for two months, and having used a lot of compostables before, these do indeed kick ass.
Hi Kirstin-I love these plates. So sleek, modern, and eco-chic!
So fun meeting you at the Martha Stewart Show!
to those of you that have used these before, how sturdy are they? can they handle thanksgiving dinner? i always have 30+ people and i don’t have near enough regular dishes but i need something that is sturdy. i hope that they will work b/c they sound like a great product (and look cool too!)
Susan,
Yes, these are very sturdy, hard plates. I think they’d do just fine for Thanksgiving dinner!
Kirstin @ Trying To Be Greener
@Susan, ditto what Kirstin said. Check out this video that someone did where they filled it with fruit, holding it with one hand. Then purposely tried to tear it. http://revver.com/video/1122123/verterra-plates-made-from-fallen-leaves/
If you do end up using them for T Day, let us know how it goes!
You can also ask Leann who hosted the Pie Off in August in Portland. Tons of pie messiness, no sweat apparently. http://pie-off.blogspot.com/
I definitely think these seem great! I especially love that they pay their workers a living wage.
Paul – you’ve had a set for 2 months? Are they really that durable? Do they retain any odors from food (esp fatty or acidic foods?) I want to keep a set of dishes at the office that I can heat stuff in and reuse, I definitely don’t want to use plastic for fear of toxin leaching. Right now I’m using a set of glass bowls but they end up disappearing – it’s really hard to write your name on them!
Critique of Michael Dwork, founder of Verterra
(& Columbia Business School 2007 winner of the A. Lorne Weil Outrageous Business Plan Competition)
By Richard – Murwillumbah, Australia, 30th October 2008.
I am an occasional reader of Time magazine and stumbled upon a business article by Jeremy Caplan on Verterra Dinnerware in the October 13, 2008 edition (Australian) of Time (page 52). Also at: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1706699_1707550_1846340,00.html
Jeremy Caplan’s article is careful not to over-state or claim. However, it strongly implies that Michael Dwork had an “idea” in southern India in 2006, that Mr Dwork developed his idea with “engineer friends”, “crossed Asia to find plants for his plates”, “through Laos, Thailand and Cambodia”, “testing dozens”, “in search of the perfect leaf” and so on. Before settling on a palm leaf in southern India – wow.
I think it should be known that plates and bowls steam-pressed from the leaf-base (sheath) of the Areca (the so called ‘betel nut’) palm (Areca catechu) have been manufactured in southern India since long before 2006.
Indeed, in 2006, steam-pressed Areca palm plates and bowls were already in Indian city stores and on display at trade expos in southern India, and have been imported into Australia with the name of Eco-Vision Bioplate since 2005 or earlier. Areca plates have also been imported into Germany, Switzerland and United Kingdom since or before 2003.
Jeremy Caplan’s article includes a photo of Mr Dwork leaning on a small palm tree. I can say, with reasonable certainty, that this small palm is of the species Areca catechu, the common, plantation, Areca palm.
It seems Mr Dwork copied a well established product (material and method) and imported Areca plates into the US market – which is hardly an “entrepreneurial gamble” and is definitely not an original idea.
Mr Dwork was a member of the ‘entrepreneurship class’ at Columbia School of Business. Mr Dwork went on, with ‘his idea’, to become the 2007 winner of the A. Lorne Weil Outrageous Business Plan Competition, and received $100,000 in seed funding from the Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurial Initiative Fund – which is remarkable considering the Lang Fund’s emphasis for originality.
What is outrageous is Michael Dwork appearing to grab the credit and failing to acknowledge Indian ingenuity, Indian producers and Indian exporters who have manufactured quality steam-pressed Areca plates identical to the Verterra product, and who have done so for years before Michael Dwork arrived in 2006.
For a history of the Areca plate visit:
http://www.ecovision.com.au
http://www.eco-vision.in/companyprofile.htm
This limited critique has been sent to the following:
Michael Dwork michael@verterra.com
Jeremy Caplan via Time
Time magazine
Columbia School of Business
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The New York Times
New York Post
And others.
Richard
Murwillumbah
Australia.
Critique of Michael Dwork and Verterra – continuation.
The overdeveloped salesmanship practiced by Michael Dwork and Verterra includes the assertion that shipping palm leaf sheaths from India to New York is okay because rural people would otherwise only burn the sheaths. This claim by Verterra is deceptive.
Although palm leaves may sometimes be burnt for mosquito control, it is arrogant for Mr Dwork to infer that Indian farmers are not aware of the benefits of putting organic material into the soil (composting/mulch).
Also, in rural India cooking is usually over a fire, and dried palm sheaths are an excellent fuel for the domestic fireplace. Removing Areca palm sheaths from rural areas may have unforeseen impacts, as other sources of cooking fuel need to be collected from the forest or fields.
Verterra are proud to own extensive production facilities in India, which is, no doubt, the optimum for New York based Verterra’s balance sheet.
Although Verterra’s facilities provide employment, its wider value for rural development is questionable, and may even be detrimental for rural self-esteem, as the villager labours for the foreign company that stole ‘their’ product.
Other producers of Areca plates include village cooperatives, the greater benefit for rural development would be obvious.
If your concern is to support rural development in India, please consider Areca products from village manufacture.
I like to have Areca palm containers for display in the home. However, from the environmental perspective, the promotion of any single-use dishware is not appropriate – unless intended for areas with serious water shortages.
In Australia, artists make delightful baskets and sculptures from the leaf sheaths of the Bangalow palm Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, which is also an Arecaceae Palmae.
Richard – Murwillumbah, Australia.
Yes, I am a frequent visitor to India, and I do not have any financial interest in any business associated with Areca products.
14th November 2008.
Richard,
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. After reading what you wrote, it would be nice to see Verterra acknowledge the background story of the plates on their web site, giving credit where credit is due.
They do, however, state that they help to create hundreds of fair-wage jobs, which is more than many other companies can say that take indigenous practices and apply them in the course business endeavors.
Kirstin @ Trying To Be Greener
I have been contacted by Mr Michael Dwork. He disputes my critiques, I believe my comments to be valid, readers may choose to disregard my previous posts, and should make their own inquires.
Richard – Murwillumbah, Australia.