Why Earthens?

The one verity evident in the global warming debate is the effect of the human footprint on the earth's resources. This simply means ‘not enough natural resources for the ever-growing human population and its demands. We now find our race at the brink of an environmental renaissance of trying to reduce this footprint. We are witnessing institutions, corporations, governments and even entire countries seeking to switch to natural and renewable alternatives of energy and raw material. In this time of re-invention, ETCI gives its customers the opportunity to join the environmental movement through a simple yet innovative product line like Earthens.

In recent times, the growing concern for the environment, and the growing demand for environmental responsibility within our communities has led producers innovating more environmentally sound products and systems. As a facet of the “GREEN Movement”, we now see a number of claims and promises by businesses and governments; this has led to the birth of potentially one of the world’s biggest and most important industries – THE ENNVIRONMENTAL GOODS INDUSTRY.

The general public is overdosed with GREEN marketing initiatives, and many are oblivious about the genuineness of these claims and how they contribute to the environmental cause. Most of these products are sold at a premium price to justify their environmental purpose, however these claims may or may not be genuine.

In the food service industry, we have seen a shift from using plastic to paper, and now to other eco-friendly and organic products. Alternatives such as Corn and Patato starch and even sugarcane fiber are being tried. But all these materials do not live up to the envirnmental standards that ought to be.

Earthens are one such cradle-to-cradle product with numerous valuable environmental benefits:

- Earthens are 100% natural and biodegradable in nature - just like any other leaves that fall from a trees. They are backyard compost-able and can be disposed along with other kitchen and yard waste.

- According to the Victoria Compost Education Centre, earthens can even be crushed and used as garden mulch. Once composted or decomposed, this material provides essential nutrients to the soil.

- Dried/dead leaves are a naturally renewable raw material. No trees or leaves are cut during the production of Earthens.

- In past years, farmers used the fallen palm tree leaves as firewood. Earthen dinnerware is the perfect example of how waste materials in nature can be utilized in our daily lives without polluting the environment.

- Encourages community and backyard composting and increases environmental awareness among communities.

Earthens Vs. Plastic/polystyrene foam plates:

• Firstly, plastics are made from petro-chemicals which come from non-renewable resources.
• Plastics are normaly recyclable, however recycling requires orderly and regular collection and sorting of waste. Besides, recycling costs big bucks in collection and transportation to recycling facilites back to the markets.
• A large chunk (approx. 70%) of plastics are not collected for recycling and eventually make their way to landfills, Plastics take thousands of years to decompose so the garbage keeps piling up.
• In short, The rate at which plastics are recycled is far less than the rate at which they are consumed. A large chunk of these plastics are plastic and styrofoam disposable dinnerware. By using earthens, we can substantially decrease the amount of plastic plates being produced and ending up at landfills.

Earthens Vs. Paper plates

• Most paper plates are made from virgin fibers. This means that trees are cut in order to manufacture paper plates (Unless mentioned made from recycled or post-consumer materials – however recycled paper is often not strong/durable. Earthens are made from the dried leaves of palm trees.
• Like plastic, even paper waste needs collection and sorting - may it be for composting, or for recycling.
• Yes, paper is biodegradable, however it takes several months – even years to decompose in city landfills. Simply put, the rate of decomposition is far slower than the rate of waste paper piling up.

Earthens Vs. PLA (poly Lactic Acid)

• Examples of PLA materials are Corn plastic, Patato starch, sugarcane fiber, etc.
• These raw materials may have been pulled out of the food source and diverted into making disposable products.
• They do not compost as well as Earthens.
• They can be easily mistaken for regular PET plastics and should not be sent for recycling.

Out of the 86 landfills in BC presently, only 6 will be left by the year 2020 at the rate at which they are filling up. We can make a striking difference if more and more of our garbage consists of organic materials such as leaves.

Earthens are perfect for food service at Cafeterias, food courts, catering companies, restaurants, event organizers, etc.