The Millennial Files

New Line of Affordable Biodegradable Products

When most people think about curbing their oil consumption, they focus primarily on energy consumption: installing energy efficient appliances or buying hybrid or high mileage cars. Some will go so far as to switch to solar or wind energy systems for their homes.

But what many fail to consider are the petroleum based products that proliferate their homes and lives, such as clothes, blankets, curtains, and rugs made from synthetic fabrics, as well as any number of plastic products. Just as the alternative energy industry is growing, many agri-business corporations and universities are developing corn oil based products (as well as soy beans, weeds and animal waste).
Chemists and engineers at Du Pont and Cargill have been developing bio-based products including plastic containers, shoe soles, spray foam insulation and fabrics, that are becoming competitive with their petroleum-based counterparts.

In prior years, these were cost prohibitive, but with the price of oil flirting with $60 a barrel and rumors of its depletion in five years, products that were previously predominantly petroleum-based no longer have the price-advantage.

For example, when Cargill launched its factory in 2002, its corn oil pellets were far more expensive than equivalent material made from petroleum. Wild Oats Markets, an early customer, paid 50% more for takeout containers made from the bio-plastic. But over the last two years, the Cargill plant has gotten more efficient ? and oil prices have soared. The result: The “corn-tainers” in the deli now cost Wild Oats 5% less than traditional plastic. Cargill has also partnered with Dow, to form Natureworks PLA, a company that also produces fabrics for everyday clothing, which in addition to being biodegradable, is also fire resistant — something unheard of in today’s untreated synthetics.

Faribault Mills, who originally specialized in wools, is now marketing a $100 wool-and-corn blanket that CEO Michael Harris calls luxuriously soft. (One drawback: If you leave it in a hot dryer too long, it has a tendency to melt.)

“We care about the environment,” Harris said, “and we just thought: Wow, wouldn’t this be cool, if we could replace our petroleum-based acrylics with corn.”

Environmentally concerned consumers can begin purchasing biodegradable plastic containers from the BrenMar Co., and blankets and bedding from Faribault Mills .