Interesting review of the age old question - "Paper or plastic"? Answer: Neither!!

Neither is correct. Paper while a naturally based material, is not as effecient as one might think due to the very long time need to grow a tree to milling age.

Most grocery bags are formed from PET (Polyethylene) and even in its thinnest layers can take hundreds of years to decompose.
San Francisco, the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags has taken an important first step. Enter the world of alternative plastics made from naturally renewable resources like Corn, bamboo and even even sugar cane. Here's a link to the Biodegradable Food Systems website: http://www.bdfs.net/

Here's my clipmark on PLA (biodegradable plastic made from Corn)
http://clipmarks.com/view_clip.aspx?guid=F818522D-6005-4FA8-B3D7-BC2EA88D7577

I wish manufacturers would think about the environment when packaging goods. Many containers are labelled "recyclable" but the actual recycling procedure is not all that environmentally friendly.

bignosemousie:

That's why my products are made froma materail (PLA) that can break down into SOIL in as little as 90 days. I knew that people could be too lazy or apathetic to recycle, so I chose a material that would be safe no matter what path they chose (dispose or recycle). Paul Newmans own already uses PLA and so does Wal-Mart among others. Smart people are catching on. The enlightened ones already knew about this though. ; )

I checked out your links, Napster, and this stuff looks great. I also love those biodegradable packing peanuts. Are these fashioned similarly? I always assumed they were made from plant starch.

Standard (or current day) packing peanuts that are biodegradable are made from starches like rice or wheat. While they are biodegradable, it is also an attractant for cockroaches, bacteria and other small lifeforms. That means they have to coat it with a 'don't-chew-on-me-I'm-bad-for-you' type coating.
Not exactly something they expected to run into.

I have a new type of packing material that will hopefully change the shipping and packing industry forever. I cannot go into details here, sorry. ; )

Let's just say that it has all the benefits of normal everyday styrofoam packing peanuts, but is not made of styrofoam and is totally safe for the environment. A win/win if ever there was one.

Let's just say that it has all the benefits of normal everyday styrofoam packing peanuts, but is not made of styrofoam and is totally safe for the environment.

Sounds great! Thanks for sharing your info with me. I didn't know they had to spray the other biodegradable peanuts.