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IT’S MADE FROM WHAT?
JAVA LOGS, CORN DISHES, CORN BLANKETS, DISSOLVING PACKAGING
by JANE BOGNER
SUNDAY, February 08, 2004

When I started making handmade paper I started looking at local plants more closely. One of the books for my papermaking class at Solano Community College was “Plant Fibers For Papermaking.” I was soon crafting paper from wheat, corn, tule and cattails.

Very little paper was made from trees when our country began. The Declaration of Independence is penned on hemp paper and our money continues to be printed on cotton paper. Some recycled papers and pencils are now made from scrap blue jeans or old money. Recycled products are slowing making their way to the retail market.

COFFEE FIRE LOGS

With the amount of coffee that Americans now drink, there is a glut of coffee grounds. Several of my friends make a habit of stopping by Starbucks for a bag of spent grounds for their gardens and compost bins. Now there is another use for this leftover product.

Java-Log was invented in 1998 by Rod Sprules in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. One evening he experimented with dried coffee grounds and candle wax. He stuffed it into an old cigar tube and lit it. It burned so well that he made prototypes in a loaf pan and gave it to some friends to try. The rest is history and his Java-Log was recently awarded patents in North America and Europe for the invention of clean-burning, high-energy fuel products comprised of recycled coffee.

The log has only a faint sweet scent arising from the mixture of molasses and coffee and since it is made with substantially less wax than wood-based firelogs, it releases less soot and carbon dioxide. It is available at Whole Foods, online at www.java-log.com or call Whole Latte Love at 888 411-5282.

CORN DINNERWARE 

There are several products on the market made from corn polymers. The Solano Group of the Sierra Club will provide cornfoam plates and bowls along with corn-based biodegradable cutlery, cups and glasses for the Loma Vista Farm fund raiser dinner on February 22. Dinner starts at 5:00 p.m. at the Masonic Temple in Vallejo. For more information on this dinner call 556-8765. Farmer Rita LeRoy will be taking these corny items along with the food wastes back to the composting bins at the farm. 

For information about biodegradable dinnerware go to www.greenearthofficesupply.com (800 327-8449) or www.simplybiodegradable.com (866-782-2371).

CORN BLANKETS

The corn farmers will again be competing with the oil companies as a new corn fiber is now being used for blankets. The makers of corn-based Ingeo fiber have teamed up with Faribault Mills, America’s premier maker of high quality woolen blankets, to create superior quality blankets.

According to their web site, these blankets are lightweight, yet warm and are made from 100% Ingeo fiber or a combined weave of Ingeo fiber plus wool. Both are completely machine washable. For more information go to www.ingeoblankets.com.

DISAPPEARING PACKAGING

Just in time for Valentines day (in Australia), British chocolate manufacturer Cadbury will begin using biodegradable trays for their milk chocolates. These trays look like plastic but are made of water-soluble cornstarch polymer. The material, developed in Australia by Plantic Technologies, needs to be saturated with water in order to disintegrate and is not affected by humid conditions. The chocolates with this packaging are available only in Australia and will carry a logo to indicate the tray is made from the biodegradable material.

RECYCLED PRODUCTS TRADE SHOW

Mark your calendar for the Fifth Annual Recycled Products Trade Show. It will be held in Sacramento on March 10-11. If you register early, you will get a free buffet lunch. 

To register, go to www.ciwmb.ca.gov/BuyRecycled/Events/TradeShow/ or call 916 932-2200. There is a copy of the registration form in the VALCORE office.

VALCORE Recycling Vice President Jane Bogner's "A Sorted Affair" is published every other week in the Times-Herald, Community Outlook Section. For recycling information call Genie Kaggerud, VALCORE Recycling manager at 645-8258 or visit www.VALCORErecycling.org.

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