Single-use Plastics vs. Biodegradable Utensils

In response to my post of banning single-use plastics in our national parks, Alma Shaw asks: But what are the alternatives?  I can foresee visitors bringing plastics they purchased elsewhere. The plastic industry needs to be held accountable at the source.

You make a good point about the plastic industry, though, thankfully, we tend not to put whole industry segments out of business just because they inflict harm on society.  The tobacco industry is an excellent example. 

To your question, there are tons of biodegradable utensils.  In fact, there are 4.1 million hits on this Google search.

I’m not an authority on the subject, but my suspicion is that this market is growing so fast that there must be some terrible rip-offs that really aren’t green at all.  I would hope the Park Service will take a hard look at this before making a decision.

I had a client that supplies many billions of dollars of stuff annually to Costco, so I happen to know that their purchasing practices are quite rigorous.  Here’s one of their SKUs.