Comments on: Chinet’s Compostable Paper Plates Green, Recycled, and Landfill Free

By: Marc

Marc — Sun, 08 May 2011 22:12:34 +0000

We just had the exact same thing happen. These plates left white spots on our dining table right where hot casserole was sitting on the plates. We’ve tried everything we know of to get them off, but no luck so far. I would love to hear of any remedies if anybody has one.
I too will never buy these plates again.

By: Anna@Green Talk

Anna@Green Talk — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 03:01:48 +0000

Kristen, did you call the company? Wow, they are just paper. I wonder what happened. Are they white stains from hot food on the plate? My lacquer which is the coating that protects the table came up once from hot material set on the table. I always use a place mat now.

Also, water will create white rings as well. Can you send me a picture? Anna

By: Kristen Paris

Kristen Paris — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 16:13:47 +0000

I used these plates and they left white stains on my solid wood table!!! Any ideas on how to get these stains off my table. I will never use this product again.

By: Alexis

Alexis — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 03:56:55 +0000

Thanks. It’s good to hear Chinet isn’t using any dioxins. I don’t know about the pre-cycled containers though. My guess is they have some — less than they had 10 years ago, but enough to make me think twice about spreading potentially carcinogenic compost around my tomatoes. Of course I hate to see the plates go to a landfill, and the dioxin release is worse when they are incinerated. Oh, the dilemmas. Like you, I suffer from the “anxiety, eco-guilt and craziness” of weighing these choices. Thanks for researching it and posting. (I had the same reaction as you when I found the giant pack of Chinet in Costco with a label that said I could compost them at home. Pay dirt!)

By: Green Talk

Green Talk — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 01:40:16 +0000

Alexis, they said they don’t use dioxins but since they are talking it from already milk carton, I wonder if dioxins are in the original product? What do you think?

By: Alexis

Alexis — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:18:49 +0000

Anna,
Did you happen to ask the Chinet folks about dioxins? Although they use post-consumer material, I’m a little concerned about how very white the plates are…

By: Jim

Jim — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:19:58 +0000

Oh, I’m pretty lazy myself – I just turned it all over about a week ago for the first time since fall. I did notice the iTunes card in there is still in pretty good shape, but everything else breaks down pretty well on its own. I’m going to be building a three-bin compost thing soon to do a little better of a job; we’ll see how it works out.

By: Green Talk

Green Talk — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 03:50:21 +0000

Jim, I put the plates in the pile in the winter and lots of them were still there when spring started. I figured that I needed hot weather for them to compost? Mind you, I did not shred them but simply buried them among the leaves. Some are still there. I have a feeling that you have to be an active composter (ie keep the compost damp, turn it, etc) for the plates to decompose. I could probably use some more green in this pile which may be causing the plates to not decompose.

I am lazy, lazy, lazy when it comes to compost and let Mother E do her magic.

How do you deal with your compost pile?