Less trash for the dump

With limited space to dispose of garbage in Bermuda, one overseas firm is advocating restaurants use greener products to cut down on the island’s environmental footprint.

Scott Patterson from Your Green 2 Go the environmentally friendly disposable tableware and take-out containers made from the pulp of bamboo.

He was displaying his company’s wares at the Butterfield & Vallis Trade Show on Wednesday at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.

Mr Patterson said: “They are biodegradable and compostable. Usually it breaks down in 90 days if it goes into a composting facility. If it goes to the dump, it will take about eight months to biodegrade.”

He said what differentiates Your Green 2 Go from its competitors is they have square plates.

Mr Patterson said: “Nobody else has that.”

He added they have a lot of product sizes that meet the needs of “grab-and-go” customers in a fast casual atmosphere.

“We can help hotels who want to have a stylish look. Our goal here is to offer an alternative to the Styrofoam, especially for an island like Bermuda. Styrofoam stays around forever and forever.”

He added the flatware is mad out of corn-based plastic, which is also compostable and biodegradable. “In order for it to compost, it has to go into a commercial-type composting facility because it has to have a certain enzyme to break it down. It takes about 90 days if it does that, but it will biodegrade also, but it takes about three years.”

He said they do not bleach their products.

“Everything is natural. Some of our competitors have a white product, but anytime you go to white, it is not a natural colour. You have to bleach it to get to white.”

Mr Patterson said Your Green 2 Go continues to come out with new products. “We see this as growing, big, big market for us and it’s getting bigger and bigger every year. That’s because people are being pushed by their customers to do something because their customers are tired of getting a Styrofoam container or a plastic container.”

He said the price of the product is comparable to the high-end plastic containers but roughly twice the price of Styrofoam. “You have to have a green initiative in order to make that decision as a restaurateur. It’s an economic shock to people but if they’re using the high-end plastic it’s about the same price.

“They can come to our product with really no increase in price.”