Sunday, February 8, 2009

Saving Virgin Forest


Virgin is a damned weird word. But since the middle ages we have been all about saving the virgins. And when it comes to forests, at least, I can agree with it. Besides, plastics really need to be replaced wherever possible. This is is my free infomercial for wheatware. It can do most things that hard plastic can, like make a hanger, comb, spork or guitar pick and for a similar price--but when discarded it is rapidly biodegradable. Although I have lingering reservations about using a food plant in this way. We don't really need anymore green products driving up the price of food. Be it fuel or forks it seems to me that non-edible biomass could be used instead? But unlike the corn used in biofuel, there is a wheat surplus in the US so this product line is probably not impacting the normal consumer's bottom line.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hemp used to be used for writing material instead of tree-killed paper. A lot cheaper and you can grow a full crop of it every year.

von Klick said...

It's easier to get people to recycle plastics, IMO.

I like the spirit of the product more than the execution.

veinglory said...

I am not entirely convinced here either, expecially as the production process is secret. But I will extend a little benefit of the doubt.

But hemp is a technology we could use tomorrow for cheap and reneweable biomanss--and rope hemp only gets you high if you smoke a metric tonne of it. I don't know what the problem is. Other grass/herb crops would also seem a possibility.

I guess the wheat product does at least use the entire plant, not just the grain.