CU eateries green it up with biodegradable containers
Your salad may contain the same contents as your salad container if you are eating at the Alfred Packer Grill in the UMC.
The Grill and Piazanos Grab ‘n Go at Cheyenne Arapahoe have recently begun using corn plastic containers which are distributed in Boulder County from a company called EcoProducts.
Associate Food Service Director Robin Margolin said the Grill started using EcoProducts about a year ago as an environmentally yet economically friendly choice.
“On the whole, customers have been pleased with the corn plastic salad containers,” Margolin said. “It was a change for the better.”
Margolin said the only setback to the corn plastic containers is that they are non-microwavable. However, considering they are only used for salad, it doesn’t appear to be too big of an issue.
Margolin said the new plastic containers have caused the university to both save and spend more money on EcoProducts.
“We are saving money in the fact that when we were buying regular plastic before, the bowls and the lids were sold separately,” Margolin said. “Now, we buy the corn plastic containers together but only the bottoms are used and thus we have an excessive amount of waste.”
The corn plastic containers are, however, competitively priced with regular plastic.
Similar to regular plastic, corn plastic looks and feels exactly the same. Corn is a renewable source which means corn plastic is more sustainable than regular plastic. The containers are 100 percent biodegradable and compostable, disintegrating in approximately 30 to 45 days.
Chris Mulvany, a junior international affairs major, said he thinks using renewable resources is very important, especially in Colorado.
“Our campus is a great example of how we can use resources to their maximum potential,” Mulvany said. “The corn plastic containers further exemplify this point.”
Head chef and Production Manager Billy Kardys at Cheyenne Arapahoe said the corn plastic salad containers are not currently being used at Piazanos because the popular Grab ‘n Go experiences sheer volume in container consumption.
“We serve so many students on a daily basis that we have started looking at other options,” Kardys said. “We do, however, use corn based silverware for our ‘zero waste’ events around campus.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Heather Koski at heather.koski@colorado.edu.