The Composting Adventure Pt. 2: Green Silverware from Ecnow Tech

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My mom and I went to lunch yesterday, something we haven't done in a while amidst all of the hustle and bustle of our equally busy lives. We didn't go anywhere super fancy, in fact, we took our food to go and ate in the car. But this post isn't about our lunch, (though if you haven't ever been to Cafe Yumm, you should try it) its about the silverware that came with our to go lunch. While stirring up my yumm bowl I noticed two things:
Ecnow Tech Forks from Cafe Yumm: Made in Oregon & Compostable!
My fork was made in Oregon. This alone would have been awesome, but the even more exciting discovery came from the back side of the fork. It was COMPOSTABLE! Made by Ecnow Tech, these forks are just part of a line of food service products that are not only made from recycled materials, but are compostable, made up of vegetable oil, cornstarch, and pea starch, according to the website.

The top tray of our Worm Factory 360
Our worm bin has been up and running for some time now, and after coming across a compostable FORK I was dying to put this sucker in the worm bin. When we were done eating I asked my mom if I could have her fork. She laughed at me and handed it over.

Cut up & whole forks

 Using conventional vermiculture wisdom, the smaller the pieces of the organic material you put into the worm bin, the quicker the worms will process it. So, I took one of the forks and cut it up with a pair of scissors, using said wisdom, leaving the other fork whole. The other fork was left whole for a somewhat childish reason on my part. I could make it be composted faster, but I thought it would be fun to see how long it took for the worms to compost a whole fork.



We currently have a repurposed yogurt container on the counter, that acts as the storage bin for kitchen scraps before we place them in the worm bin. We have cut down on our waste and are on our way to having some gorgeous compost for next spring. Keep your eye out for further updates on the composting of our forks!
WORMS!

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