Comments on: Compostableware that leaves the others far behind

By: Madhu

Madhu — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:33:27 +0000

Dear sir,
We glad to introduce ourselves as manufactures of disposable, bio-degradable eco-friendly areca plates and bowls from areca sheath which is the pliable but study part that holds the leaf. The sheath has a naturally yellow colour with beautiful grain as you see in teak wood. The plates and bowls made from the sheath are light and easy to store. They are economical and eco friendly. They are available in plenty in the areca gardens in South India . They are also organic material which can used without fear of any infection, they are easily biodegradable.
These areca plates and bowls are water and heat resistant. They can be
used to bake food in microwave ovens. They will not give out any colour or smell, they are flexible but they are hard enough to support the food served in it. They have excellent properties which have made it popular among cater for dinner parties.
These plates are manufactured in and out side shimoga. For further details, you may visit our web site http://www.bioplates.com we appeal to you to encourage the use of these disposable and biodegradable and eco-friendly plates and support over noble endeavor.
With regards
MADHU

By: Richard

Richard — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:37:27 +0000

I have been contacted by Mr Michael Dwork. He disputes my critiques, I believe my comments to be valid, readers may choose to disregard my previous posts, and should make their own inquires.
Richard – Murwillumbah, Australia.

By: John

John — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:21:56 +0000

Can anyone comment on taking regular leaves from the east coast; oak, sycamore, maple, etc. and using them to make paper products, rather than cutting down trees? I am looking for a company that can take regular leaves and water and produce cheap paper products.

By: Richard

Richard — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:22:15 +0000

Critique of Michael Dwork and Verterra – continuation.
The overdeveloped salesmanship practiced by Michael Dwork and Verterra includes the assertion that shipping palm leaf sheaths from India to New York is okay because rural people would otherwise only burn the sheaths. This claim by Verterra is deceptive.
Although palm leaves may sometimes be burnt for mosquito control, it is arrogant for Mr Dwork to infer that Indian farmers are not aware of the benefits of putting organic material into the soil (composting/mulch).
Also, in rural India cooking is usually over a fire, and dried palm sheaths are an excellent fuel for the domestic fireplace. Removing Areca palm sheaths from rural areas may have unforeseen impacts, as other sources of cooking fuel need to be collected from the forest or fields.
Verterra are proud to own extensive production facilities in India, which is, no doubt, the optimum for New York based Verterra’s balance sheet.
Although Verterra’s facilities provide employment, its wider value for rural development is questionable, and may even be detrimental for rural self-esteem, as the villager labours for the foreign company that stole ‚Äòtheir’ product.
Other producers of Areca plates include village cooperatives, the greater benefit for rural development would be obvious.
If your concern is to support rural development in India, please consider Areca products from village manufacture.
I like to have Areca palm containers for display in the home. However, from the environmental perspective, the promotion of any single use dishware is not appropriate – unless intended for areas with serious water shortages.
In Australia, artists make delightful baskets and sculptures from the leaf sheaths of the Bangalow palm Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, which is also an Arecaceae Palmae.
Richard – Murwillumbah, Australia.
Yes, I am a frequent visitor to India, and I do not have any financial interest in any business associated with Areca products.
14th November 2008.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:41:07 +0000

Critique of Michael Dwork, founder of Verterra.
By Richard – Murwillumbah, Australia.
I am an occasional reader of Time magazine and stumbled upon a business article by Jeremy Caplan on Verterra Dinnerware in the October 13, 2008 edition (Australian) of Time (page 52). Also at: http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1706699_1707550_1846340,00.html
Jeremy Caplan’s article is careful not to over-state or claim. However, it strongly implies that Michael Dwork had an “idea” in southern India in 2006, that Mr Dwork developed his idea with “engineer friends”, “crossed Asia to find plants for his plates”, “through Laos, Thailand and Cambodia”, “testing dozens”, “in search of the perfect leaf” and so on. Before settling on a palm leaf in southern India – wow.
I think it should be known that plates and bowls steam-pressed from the leaf-base (sheath) of the Areca (the so called ‚Äòbetel nut’) palm (Areca catechu) have been manufactured in southern India since long before 2006.
Indeed, in 2006, steam-pressed Areca palm plates and bowls were already in Indian city stores and on display at trade expos in southern India, and have been imported into Australia with the name of Eco-Vision Bioplate since 2005 or earlier. Areca plates have also been imported into Germany, Switzerland and United Kingdom since or before 2003.
Jeremy Caplan’s article includes a photo of Mr Dwork leaning on a small palm tree. I can say, with reasonable certainty, that this small palm is of the species Areca catechu, the common, plantation, Areca palm.
It seems Mr Dwork copied a well established product (material and method) and imported Areca plates into the US market – which is hardly an “entrepreneurial gamble” and is definitely not an original idea.
Mr Dwork was a member of the ‚Äòentrepreneurship class’ at Columbia School of Business. Mr Dwork went on, with ‚Äòhis idea’, to become the 2007 winner of the A. Lorne Weil Outrageous Business Plan Competition, and received $100,000 in seed funding from the Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurial Initiative Fund – which is remarkable considering the Lang Fund’s emphasis for originality.
What is outrageous is Michael Dwork appearing to grab the credit and failing to acknowledge Indian ingenuity, Indian producers and Indian exporters who have manufactured quality steam-pressed Areca plates identical to the Verterra product, and who have done so for years before Michael Dwork arrived in 2006.
For a history of the Areca plate visit:
http://www.ecovision.com.au
http://www.eco-vision.in/companyprofile.htm
This limited critique has been sent to the following:
Michael Dwork. michael@verterra.com
Jeremy Caplan via Time.
Time magazine.
Columbia School of Business.
United States Patent and Trademark Office.
The New York Times.
New York Post.
And others.
Richard.

By: rambanita

rambanita — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:52:16 +0000

CORRECTION to my above post
” 3000 “families, are supported,”
and we dont operate from facories, we run our supply chain throughout the village network.Ie Simple people, leading simples lives making a simle product.
do contact me if you wish to know more.
rambanita@gmail.com

By: rambanita

rambanita — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 09:45:55 +0000

Hi, Find it interesting to read about this, since we are the company that developed this product commonly known as a bioplate , over 14 years ago.The initiative was actually started to give work to farmers who had formerly been collecting areca nuts, and due to the falling market and tough competition were loosing their livliehoods.In answer to the person who said he is sick of the Fair Wages Line, I am in agreeance, and that is why “this” initiative go to http://www.ecofriendunit.com is the topper here.
Its the business model that is the star of the SHOW, not so much the product, which surely is fantastic, since it turns a waste product into a useful and enviromentaly friendly product and the bonus is, by supporting a product such as this we give the third world an opportunity to gain self respect by supporting their handwork, without having to give CHARITY.
While there is no doubt Michale Dwork is a savvy marketing person, its not fair that he claims any credit for “Developing this product”
The testing for arket viability was done long long before Michale came along, and in fact our initiative now supports 300 families, and has resulted in may carbon companies.I say carbon, becasue we have started a business model that can be replicated,and its a win win situation for the Villagers, the enviroment and the consumer…
So we dont mind the copy cats,
BUT
Credit should go to the innovators, who toiled long and hard before anyone gave a damn about the enviroment,Please do contact me if you wish to know more…

By: Erin

Erin — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:43:12 +0000

I run a small taqueria and recently made the decision to use compostable plates, bowls, cold cups and hot cups. We are simply unable (no matter how hard I try to figure it out) able to use reuseable dishes, as we set up once a week at a farmers market and have very limited seating and washing capacity. The stuff I have comes from a local distributor but is shipped via Colorado and China. It is made of corn. Where I live we have superb community composting facilities and I have no problem imagining these bio-degrading as planned.
I was pleased with this decision until I heard a feature on the radio today, discussing the merits of plastic vs. these types of products. While one gentleman discussed the problems with plastic (it never goes away!), another scientist made a compelling argument against corn based compostable products that take much more energy to produce, take valuable farmland from food production, place too much emphasis on an already over produced crop and generate a great deal of carbon emissions, more than plastic production generates. I hate the thought of traditional plastic adding to the landfill but now am giving pause to my earlier decision. If this scientist is right, why wouldn’t I save my money and go with a simple paper plate (do you think I could find unbleached?) that should rot quickly and traditional plastic cups? I would likely stick with the compostable bowls and hot cups as I can’t stomach styrofoam….
Any advice? I am really torn up! I am trying to make a responsible decision and provide some leadership in this area.

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:54:18 +0000

The Verterra site says that the idea was inspired by Indian food vendors using leaf based plates, nothing hidden about that.
I’ve used leaf based plates years before, and while quaint, they aren’t good for much more than the immediate use. These, I can now say from experience, are tough, durable, and can be washed and reused. I inquired, and found that some people have reused them 20 times. And aesthetically they are the best I’ve seen yet, and I’ve used a lot of bioware in my day.

By: Vijay

Vijay — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:42:04 +0000

Yep!! Just search for Arecanut! These plates are made form Arecanut Sheath… and have been used in India for ages…

By: persimmon

persimmon — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:05:15 +0000

I’m not really sure how this company can say they spent 2 years developing this and then be awarded all these awards when this is something that has been done in India for years. There are plenty of other companies doing this. Just google it.

By: pricklypear

pricklypear — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:54:32 +0000

I think this is great. Since I live in the U.S. my question is if there is a plan to open a plant and manufacture in the U.S.?
I’m not a “disposable” person, but once in a blue moon there is a need and I would definitely prefer these over petroleum based product.
That said… I would also avoid these because they are not manufactured in the U.S., and I would probably find a way NOT to use disposables.
And as a side note… those leaves that were used to make these compostable dishes COULD have been used to make plain old compost. Locally. I’m not saying they WOULD have… just that they COULD.
And I’m not singling out Verterra (well, actually I guess I am since this post is about them..), but I’m also getting a bit leery and tired of this line “…employees receive fair wages in safe working conditions and are provided access to healthcare.” Verterra may be the best employer on the planet… I really have no idea… but I’m going to need something more than that line to convince me.

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:14:28 +0000

Also, depending on the volume, I believe the prices are malleable.

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:12:28 +0000

It is an issue, but for durable, non toxic, cleanly made product, I think they’re worth the cost. We pay more for cage free eggs, fair trade coffee, and eco friendly clothing, why not for some stylish,unique plates?