Biodegradable Café

Photos: Bradley Plummer, SLAC

At SLAC's Linear Café, a potato doesn't just go on your fork. It is your fork.

The cafeteria began a green initiative about five months ago, abandoning traditional plastic spoons and plates in favor of biodegradable counterparts. Nearly everything used to serve food is made of paper, sugar cane fiber, or corn, including plates to soufflé cups to takeout boxes. The garbage can by the door was joined by an equally large compost receptacle. Plasticware gave way to TaterWare, a set of bendy, beige forks, spoons, and knives. (They're not edible, but they will take an imprint of your teeth if you bite them, and soften if left too long in hot soup.)

Even the garbage bags are compostable, says deputy manager Pablo Barron. Every day, piles of plates and leftover food that would normally be relegated to the trash find their way to the compost bin. "We never waste anything," Barron says.

It's not always easy being green. Customers sometimes use the garbage and compost bins interchangeably, jeopardizing the entire operation. "If we put one piece of plastic in the compost, the entire load may be rejected by the compost facility," Barron said.

Soon, this problem might be solved by getting rid of the garbage can altogether. Manager Robin Martinez estimates that 75 percent of the café's products are compostable now, but she hopes to go entirely green in two to three months. The only things left that won't decompose are straws, plastic food wrappers, waxed red-and-white beverage cups, plastic hexagonal salad containers and hot-beverage and soup cups with lids, which are coated with a glossy lining. Martinez said she tried to recycle these items by giving them to another cafeteria but "no one would take them. They're all going green, too."

Lisa Grossman

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