I never thought I’d be singing the praises of a disposable plate company on the Green Baby Guide, but I am about to do so. Here’s how it happened: first, I wrote about Greening My Family Reunion. I noted that with over forty people in my extended family, we used as many real dishes as possible and supplemented with paper plates and cups, which racked me with eco-guilt. Next year, I vowed, we could reduce our impact by choosing recycled paper products. I then checked out the paper plate selection at my local grocery store and noticed that Chinet’s plates were made from “recycled materials.”
Chinet contacted the Green Baby Guide, sending along some interesting facts about their company. After reading about their plates, I couldn’t believe they didn’t advertise their eco-friendly practices more conspicuously. “Made from recycled materials” could mean anything–but it turns out that Chinet’s Classic White and Chinet Casual plates are made from 100% recycled materials and they’re biodegradable. They don’t contain chlorine bleach, so you can toss those used plates in your compost bin, where they will break down in about sixty days.
I’ve got to say that I used to be annoyed by Chinet’s television ads for the same reason I hated paper towel commercials. I am someone who has hosted parties for twenty people and washed all the dishes by hand afterwards, so it’s not as if I am a big paper plate advocate. That said, I am really impressed by Chinet’s environmental efforts. Because Huhtamaki American, Inc. (the makers of Chinet products) uses recycled materials, they save almost three million trees, one billion gallons of water, and 65 million gallons of oil each year. It’s great to see a mainstream company offer more sustainable products that can be found at most of our everyday grocery stores.
Would you like to try some of Chinet’s products for your next gathering? Just post a comment by Tuesday and you’ll be entered to win two sets of Chinet’s eco-friendly paper plates and some biodegradable napkins. You’ll get special consideration if you promise to compost them when you’re done!
Read more about Chinet’s environmental efforts here.
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August 29th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Thank you for the informative post. When we use our glass dishes for big parties, I always feel guilty hand washing them and/or using the dishwasher because of the volume of water I use, no matter how conscious I try to be. I think Chinet sounds like a good alternative. And my family just moved to our first house and built our first compost pile! We are hoping to have a move-in party, and it would be great to have some Chinet to use, and then pitch it in the compost pile (at least those that don’t have animal waste on them…)
August 29th, 2008 at 6:56 am
This is great to know! I’d love to be able to throw them in my compost bin after a party. Thanks for the info.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:02 am
I’ve used them before but wasn’t really sure if they were a good alternative to washable dishes. I’m happy to read this post!
August 29th, 2008 at 8:28 am
I had no idea that Chinet made eco-friendly plates. We’ll have to look for them for the next birthday bash.
August 29th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Is this something that’s always been this way or is it new that they’re so eco friendly? Great to know b/c although we rarely use paper plates now at least I won’t feel so bad when we do!
August 29th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I too had no idea that Chinet offered eco=friendly products.
brn2lisn{at}gmail{dot}com
August 29th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Sara, I just wrote Chinet to ask them how long they’ve been trying to be eco-friendly. They do have a website that explains some of their green practices here: http://www.mychinet.com/environment. I think I’ll go insert that in the post!
August 29th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Odd they don’t make more of a marketing effort about this aspect of their product. You should do an expose of other secretly green products!
August 30th, 2008 at 8:04 am
Thanks for sharing this info. I’ve been searching for alternatives to paper plates for our family outdoor picnics & parties. I love that I can toss the Chinet plates into our compost bin too!
August 30th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Thank you for the information! I would love to try these!
August 30th, 2008 at 10:50 am
What a great product. I’d love to promise to compost them, but our compost pile was attracting snakes and mice, so we’ve abandoned it for a while…guess we were doing something wrong.
August 30th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I also hate paper plate commercials, but my ire is focused mostly on the other major paper plate company - Dixie. Make it a dixie day indeed! here’s a post I wrote about it:
http://greenacrosstexas.blogspot.com/2008/08/bring-out-good-paper-plates-honey.html
Thanks for bringing Chinet’s eco-ness to my attention!
August 30th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
A friend was telling me how wonderfully eco-friendly Chinet’s paper plates were, but somehow I got the mistaken impression that they were not only bio-degradable, but edible as well. Thanks to Green Baby Guide for setting the record straight. I only wish I had visited this blog before finishing off the medium pie plate and two paper tumblers I had at the company picnic.
August 30th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Mark, I think you’ve hit upon another missed marketing opportunity for Chinet!
August 31st, 2008 at 4:02 am
I can’t believe they don’t really advertise their eco-friendly ways. In a way it makes me like them even more because they don’t. I’m feeling really good about Chinet now and these paper plates are fabulous. I’m going to support the company from now on for being green.
August 31st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
These look great! I’d love to try them out
September 1st, 2008 at 1:53 am
I would love to try these and I will compost them when I am done using them.
Thank you!
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com
September 2nd, 2008 at 12:04 am
This interests me, because I just wrote an article about biodegradable corn plastic. I’ll have to read up on what Chinet’s plates are made out of. Very neat, thanks for offering this giveaway! And of course I will compost them.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Everyone who posted a comment–thank you! The grand winner of the eco-friendly paper plates is . . . Alison! Congratulations; you will soon own some biodegradable party ware.
September 7th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Hello and thank you for your blog/post about Chinet paper plates. Our local grocer has them on sale for “Buy one get one free” and I hesitated on purchasing them for our upcoming luau. Thankfully, I came across your blog and felt more at ease about using them. Congrats to Alison for winning the “prize” and thank you again for keeping us so informed. Oh, and thanks to Chinet for being green!
November 16th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Thank you so much for this post. I am getting married next summer and am having a BBQ (for 200 people) for a reception and was feeling really guilty about considering using Chinet in lieu of actual dishes. After reading your article I feel a huge weight has been lifted. I never would have known this had I not stumbled across your post. And a big thank you to Chinet for being green and affordable!