Eco friendly and compostable ice cream scoops

...that you're eating more than 11,000 pieces of microplastic every year* just from fish and shellfish? Microplastics are everywhere: in our food, in the seas and oceans, in the air we breathe.

A 2015 international study estimated there are between 15 and 51 trillion particles of microplastic floating in our oceans (yes, trillion, that's a thousand billion). On some beaches in Hawaii, as much as fifteen percent of the sand now consists of tiny plastic fragments. These numbers are already hard to imagine, and without change, they'll only keep growing. Together, we can make sure they don't.

That's exactly why we went looking for a sustainable alternative to the good old plastic ice cream scoop. You probably know the paper and wooden versions already, not exactly appealing, are they? The best alternative we found is a spoon that's 100% natural and fully compostable: made from recycled wood and cellulose. This way, you get to enjoy a perfect scoop of ice cream, without adding to the plastic problem.

Curious how? Read on below.

* Based on an article in National Geographic (2019).

Besides disposable scoops, you could also opt for reusable ones, made from for example stainless steel or still plastic. Sounds sustainable, right? There's just one major catch: reusable means cleaning, ideally with the brushes that come supplied.

Proper cleaning isn't optional here, it's essential for hygiene. Think of lipstick residue left behind, or a guest with a cold sore unknowingly passing it on to the next person. That level of care takes time, and combined with the higher upfront cost of the scoops themselves and the extra staff hours needed to clean them properly, reusable scoops quickly become impractical for a busy hospitality business.