We tried the edible cutlery that raised nearly $300,00 - here's how it could help save the world
On a typical day at work, whether I bring my lunch or buy it, I usually pick up disposable plastic cutlery.
But this week, I had a set of Bakey's spoons, which I carried throughout the week in my backpack. My first impression of the spoons: they look sturdier than expected given how light they are, and they smell really good!
I get lunch — some sweet potato stew — from one of my usual spots, and skip the disposable cutlery section, feeling pretty good about myself.
As I sit down though, I'm nervous to dip the spoon, thinking it may be too fragile. Will it hold up okay against the chunks of warm sweet potato? After all, it's made of flour...
Yes! There was only a small difference in taste in my experience eating with this spoon (one of the savory kinds) which was the smell of the spices the spoon was baked with. With every bite, I was able to smell the cumin and ajwain (a type of Indian spice which tastes like a cross between oregano and anise) in the spoon. It made it hard to avoid simply eating the spoon before I finished my soup.
So it made sense that instead of trashing the spoon (where it would decompose in about a week) I chose to eat it. It tastes like a cracker, and made for a good post-meal snack. Honestly, I could sit and munch on the spoons all day.
I assumed that I would have reduced my waste with this meal, but at the end of it, all I had reduced was a spoon's worth of plastic in the ocean. That was disappointing.
The next day was a hot day, so I headed to get some frozen yogurt after work — obviously with my spoon along.
I'd only ordered the savory-flavored spoons, so I was a little nervous to try it with a sweet dessert.
My apprehensions were misplaced. The treat's flavor was undisturbed by the spoon's smells, which seem to have been brought out by the warmth of the soup. I was full from the froyo, so I thought about trashing the spoon...
...but the restaurant I'd gone to had no trash cans in sight (they recycled everything!). So, I ate the spoon once again. Since I was reusing the ziploc baggie I'd brought the spoon in, my waste count ended up being zero once again.
The next day, I decided to test the spoon's resilience with a hot tomato soup.
Surprising me once again, the spoon did not turn soggy. And in fact, it seemed to absorb the flavors of the soup, which made it even more delicious to eat afterwards.
By now, it was nearing the end of the week and I was running short of silverware at home anyway, so Bakey's came to the rescue for my breakfast cereal.
Once again, the spoon retained its texture and didn't ruin the flavor of my meal. By now, I'd managed to avoid tossing four plastic spoons in the ocean and also gotten a great snack out of it. I plan to keep using Bakey's at work, but they're also perfect for a picnic outdoors or traveling.
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