Have you been hearing the word ‘bagasse’ lately, and wondering what it’s all about? Bagasse is the hot topic in biodegradable food packaging; a natural, eco-friendly alternative to polystyrene. Expanded polystyrene is a man-made product – a petroleum- based plastic. Bagasse on the other hand is an all-natural plant-based material; the waste fibre that remains…
There’s been a big fuss about plastic straws in recent years. And rightly so. They’re small, lightweight and easily travel to where they don’t belong in massive numbers, through the action of wind and rain. Straws are used briefly and then tossed, but continue to pollute environments for hundreds of years or more, with well…
We often get asked if our products break down in landfill. The short answer is yes, they will break down eventually. But really, nothing breaks down well in landfill, and zero waste to landfill is what we should all be aiming for. This article outlines what happens in a landfill and why we need to…
The Organics Recycling Association of South Africa (ORASA) held a half day seminar titled ‘Demystifying Bioplastics’ on 11 July 2019 at the V&A Waterfront Clock Tower in Cape Town. The event aimed to shed light on compostable bioplastic packaging, while bringing various stakeholders in the organic recycling, packaging, retail, research and government sectors together. There were…
This winter we are focusing our attention on “Putting a Freeze on Plastics” that’s why we partnered with the fabulous Sidewalk Cafe for our new winter warmer shoot (aren’t our pics great?). It was a wonderful day, filled with excellent coffee, delicious food and plenty of laughs. The Sidewalk Cafe are in the process of…
Identifying compostable Hot Cup Lids is super easy. Just look for the embossed words which say ‘Compostable Lid’ in the middle of the lid above the sippy hole. The lid will also have the letters ‘PLA’ below the triangular material code. That’s all you need to check to be sure your lid is made from…
You may remember that last year we went looking for answers to the question: ‘Do Earthworms eat Compostable Packaging?’ We were assisted by avid worm farmer, Luke Beart, who was composting some of our products in earth farms on behalf of the good people at LexisNexis. Luke uses Red Wigglers, or Eisenia Fetida composting earthworms,…
Are we saving the Planet One Cup at a Time? Not exactly. GREEN HOME does not propose to save you or the planet. But we do believe that some things are better for the planet than others. And we can save you from using an incredible amount of single use plastic and other non-recyclable waste.…
Compostable packaging is often described as an alternative to plastic. Indeed, at GREEN HOME, we’ve often used this description ourselves over the years. But, are compostables the real alternative here? We don’t think so. Compostable packaging is made from plants. And there is nothing ‘alternative’ about plants. Plants have been on Earth for hundreds of…
