Eco-friendly and renewable alternatives to plastic, bamboo and wooden cutlery sets have recently appeared in fast food stores and restaurants. This article is for you if you want bamboo or wooden cutlery but don’t know which to choose. Check out the seven best bamboo cutlery below.
Before you start… Bamboo cutlery is terrible for your health: True or false?
This is false for bamboo cutlery and other raw bamboo utensils, not recomposed with glue or resin. Only bamboo cutlery that is reconstituted with bamboo fibre and glue should be avoided because the glue may contain toxic substances.
Rest assured, in this article; we will only see basic bamboo cutlery, without glue or resin, so without any impact on health.
The top 7 bamboo and wooden cutlery
Bamboo cutlery set Bamba.
To start this top, here are the bamboo cutlery from the bamboo brand and their storage cover. This reusable bamboo cutlery set is ideal if you are used to eating out. You can take it to your place of work if you bring your lunch, take it for your trips, during your outdoor outings, etc.
In addition to being very practical, this cutlery is made from 100% bamboo. No more polluting plastic that ends up in the seas and oceans. Even if this cutlery is reusable, if you lose one in nature by misfortune, do not worry: Bamboo is a biodegradable lignocellulosic material like wood. It will degrade in 3-4 years without having any more ecological impact than a branch of bamboo falling on the ground!
Finally, this bamboo cutlery sets from the Bambaw brand is available in 3 colours: Blue, khaki, and red. If you live with your family, this could allow you to distinguish each one!
Set of 100 Ekho wooden cutlery
The Ekho wooden cutlery set is the right choice if you need a large quantity of eco-friendly cutlery for an event. It is also a good choice if you are a restaurant owner and want to offer your customers ecological cutlery. Thanks to this wooden cutlery set, you have enough units to organize meals with several dozen people.
It says these are disposable cutlery, but you can still rinse them for multiple uses before throwing them away. However, wood is more permeable to moisture than bamboo, so it depends on the use that has been made of the cutlery.
Wood vs Bamboo: Wood is an excellent alternative to bamboo for everyday objects, but its renewal rate is slower than bamboo. It also depends on the wood species used. But for example, if an oak requires more than 80 years to be able to be cut again and used for its wood, bamboo can produce lumber in only four years, which is therefore much better than wood. On the other hand, the disadvantage of bamboo is that, for the moment, it comes almost exclusively from Asia. However, its cultivation and processing are developing in Europe, so this disadvantage will soon no longer be entirely accurate.
Set of 2 bamboo cutlery set
If you need bamboo cutlery every day, such as eating at work, having two reusable cutlery sets can be good. Indeed, bamboo is a lignocellulosic material like wood, and as we will see later in the article, it is good that it is dried between each use for better durability. If you only have one set you use daily, it may not have enough time to dry out between uses. Two bamboo cutlery sets allow you to alternate their use over two days.
Also, this bamboo cutlery sets is supplied in a small resealable transport bag. This allows you to carry them easily, putting them in your bag without the cutlery getting lost at the bottom of the bag. It’s also more hygienic than if you put them at the bottom of your bag without protection.
This set is equipped with a bamboo straw and brush to wash the inside. If you want to know more about them, you can read my article on bamboo straws made in France.
Cutlery with bamboo handle
Here is now a complete table cutlery set more suitable for daily sedentary use. This high-quality natural bamboo cutlery is very original, thanks to its handles made with a piece of the bamboo rhizome. You can recognize that it is a bamboo rhizome by its morphology and the nodes with visible buds.
This high-quality bamboo cutlery can also be used for events and when you invite friends. They will surprise by their original appearance and elegance. The knots in the bamboo rhizome also allow for a good breeze in hand.
The set consists of a round knife, a large and a small fork, and a large and small spoon.
Customizable My little Panda bamboo cutlery set
The My Little Panda bamboo cutlery set, like the two similar ones presented above, is convenient to transport for your meals outdoors, at work, at picnics, etc.
The great advantage of this bamboo cutlery set is that they are customizable! It is therefore convenient to engrave your first name on it so as not to lose them. You can also write the first name of a person to whom you can offer it. It is possible to write anything you want there, so you can also put a short sentence, a sweet word, etc.
Finally, this bamboo cutlery set is available in many colours: Turquoise, beige, cocoa, multicoloured, charcoal, light red, latte, and lime green. The choice is, therefore, broad; there is something for everyone!
Set of 12 My Little Panda Reusable Bamboo Cutlery
This set of 12 bamboo cutlery from My Little Panda is well suited if you are used to eating outdoors with your family. Indeed, unlike the bamboo cutlery sets presented above which have only one copy per cutlery, this one has four copies per cutlery. This allows you to have enough for four people, which can be helpful for a family picnic outdoors.
This set of 12 bamboo cutlery comes with a resealable storage bag easily using a string. You can put your 12 place settings inside, avoiding scattering them in your bag.
How to maintain bamboo cutlery?
Can bamboo cutlery be put in the dishwasher?
Yes, you can put the bamboo cutlery in the dishwasher. However, it is advisable not to put them at too high a temperature to have a longer lifespan. It also depends on the quality of the bamboo cutlery you have; it must be very robust and thick cutlery.
A sponge and dishwashing liquid
Otherwise, you can wash your bamboo cutlery like any other cutlery. You can use a bamboo sponge and dishwashing liquid. There are no particularities to take into account on this point.
They must be allowed to dry well between each use.
For better hygiene and longer conservation of bamboo cutlery, it is recommended to let them dry between each use. That’s why it can be good to have two bamboo cutlery sets if you use them daily because it will allow you to alternate. It is also advisable to regularly wash the carrying case in which they are put.
Please put them in boiling water to disinfect them.
Finally, to properly disinfect the bamboo cutlery from time to time, you can put them in boiling water for about ten minutes before letting them dry well.
Six good reasons to use bamboo cutlery
They are biodegradable
One of the significant advantages of bamboo cutlery is that it is biodegradable (incredibly raw, resin-free bamboo cutlery). Bamboo is a lignocellulosic material, degrading rapidly under the action of microorganisms in the soil. If you’d like to learn more about this, I’ve set up an experiment on the degradability of bamboo. Although bamboo is strong and can last for many years under the right conditions, it is not as rot-proof as sometimes claimed.
They are neutral in taste.
Some people do not like to use stainless steel cutlery because they are sensitive to the taste it gives on contact with the tongue. There is no such problem with bamboo cutlery: Bamboo cutlery is neutral in taste. In addition, they are soft and pleasant to put in the mouth.
They are sturdy
Bamboo is a very hardy plant thanks to its long cellulose fibres, which extend lengthwise and its lignin. Thus, products obtained from bamboo, such as bamboo cutlery, are very robust. What is certain is that they will not break if you drop them on the ground or if they end up at the bottom of your bag.
They are reusable
Bamboo cutlery is also primarily reusable. They are designed to be used for many months and therefore avoid the waste caused by disposable cutlery. So that your bamboo cutlery can last longer over the months and years, do not hesitate to read the maintenance recommendations in the section above.
They are elegant and natural.
Another advantage of bamboo cutlery is that it brings elegance, naturalness, and softness to a table decoration. No more ugly plastic cutlery that blows away in the wind or stainless steel cutlery that squeaks on the plate! Bamboo cutlery is soft, pleasant, and will surprise your guests. They will go perfectly well with a spring or summer, flowery and colourful table decoration.
Bamboo is a plant of great ecological interest.
Finally, one of the significant advantages of bamboo cutlery comes from its plant: Bamboo.
Indeed, bamboo has many environmental qualities:
It is a plant that absorbs a lot of CO2. To learn more, you can read my article on CO2 and bamboo.
Bamboo can grow without pesticides because it is a very resilient plant. If you are interested in growing bamboo, you can read my article on the steps to take to grow bamboo.
Bamboo has solid capacities for soil purification, soil maintenance against potential landslides, water retention, etc.
Finally, it is a plant that renews itself very quickly, since each year, new culms come out of the ground and reach their adult size (sometimes more than 20 meters) in just 2 to 3 months.
Bamboo cutlery is lightweight.
What can be particularly handy if you are going on a hike or another outdoor activity is that bamboo cutlery is lightweight. It is, therefore, an advantage not to weigh down your hiking or walking bag! However, they are not as light as plastic cutlery and will not fly away in the slightest gust of wind.