FAQs
EcoTensil is based in Northern California and has distribution warehouses in both the US (Missouri) and the EU (Netherlands).
Our California HQ hours of operation are from 8:30am – 5pm. Questions during after hours should be sent to info@ecotensil.com.
Shopping cart orders can be processed online to the US (and territories), and within the EU, UK and Middle East [link to EU shopping cart].
[pop ups implemented on new shopping cart alerting shoppers if they are trying to purchase and ship from outside of the US or EU, UK or Middle East.
So how does a paper utensil work?
Q: Do EcoTensil® products have any taste or texture? Can they stand up to hot products?
Think of your experience with a paper coffee cup. It has no taste, it has a smooth, pleasing texture, it is sturdy for its purpose, it can contain hot or cold liquid, and it is sanitarily made and packaged.
EcoTensil products provide all these same attributes but are plastic-free!
Q: What kinds of foods can be eaten with EcoTensil products?
Just about anything you can eat with a spoon and many things that you would eat with a fork—any food that is bite-sized, scoopable, or easy to cut.
GreenDot™: Most foods, and more than you can eat with a tiny plastic taster — such as chunky deli salad or soup! When folded, these sturdy tasters are strong enough to cut through even cheesecake.
AquaDot™ utensils: Holds up beautifully for full servings:
- perfect for frozen yogurt to hot chili
- strong enough to cut through foods like cheesecake or soft cheese
- scoops chunky bite-sized foods like fruit salad
- perfect for grain and legume deli salads
- even works beautifully for thicker soups
Q: Can I eat soup?
Yes, both the GreenDot EcoTaster® (sampling spoon) and AquaDot EcoTensil (for full servings) are perfect for thicker soups and stews. Our deeper “bowl” allows for bigger bites and less soup spillage, and some products includes a drip-stop fold.
Q: What about a fork or a knife?
For many on-the-go or take-out meals, all that’s needed is an EcoTensil and paper napkin (all paper wrapped in paper if you want to have zero plastic). If you are serving a filet of chicken that needs cutting, then you will likely need a plastic or wood fork, knife, and napkin, and also a spoon in many cases.
An EcoTensil or even EcoTaster can be used to easily spread butter, nut butter, hummus, etc. It can scoop any scoopable dish from pasta salad to fruit salad, eggs to oats, mac and cheese to casseroles, rice to potatoes, etc., and it can even be used to slice through easy-to-cut foods like cheesecake, coffee cake, omelet, jello, even watermelon. And of course it works great as a spoon for spoon able foods such as yogurt, parfaits, chili or thick soups. It even makes a perfect stirrer.
Why not use the most eco-efficient, lightweight utensils when you can, even if it is not for every occasion?
Q: Can I get a cut from EcoTensil products?
Because the paperboard is thick compared to a sheet of paper, EcoTensil products are too thick to easily cut skin. We have not seen evidence of this happening after selling over 100 million utensils.
Q: Can I easily put an EcoTensil product on my package to make it 100% self-contained for grab-and-go usage?
Yes! Wrapped EcoTensils, PopOut®, iScoop™, and SpoonLidz® are all designed specifically to be part of the single-serve grab-and-go packaging! Explore our Cutlery for Packaging page to see more.
How sustainable is EcoTensil® cutlery?
Q: What are EcoTensil products made of?
All our lines are made from certified sustainable paperboard. Our AquaDot™ product range is made from paperboard that is PEFC®‡-certified from sustainably-managed forests and independently certified as plastic-free by Din Certco. It is compliant with the new EU Single-Use Plastics Directive for cutlery. The GreenDot™ paperboard is made from FSC®†-certified paperboard and also produced from sustainably-managed forests.
Q: Which utensils are compostable?
Our GreenDot and AquaDot paperboard lines are both industrially and home compostable.
Q: Can I put your compostable products into my backyard compost?
Yes, in our own “home compost” tests, GreenDot EcoTasters® broke down completely in 3-4 weeks, so they should easily compost in an industrial composting facility that requires 180 days or more. Happily, the number of compost facilities continues to increase, so items like food scraps/kitchen waste and EcoTasters can be regenerated in a closed loop lifecycle.
Q: Are your compostable products marine degradable?
Yes, in our own sea and fresh-water tests, our EcoTaster paperboard broke down in less than three weeks.
Q: If I cannot compost, where should I dispose of EcoTasters?
If there’s no compost available, EcoTensil products should be disposed of in the trash (landfill). EcoTensil products are still the greenest utensil because they use 50–85% less material than plastic, bio-plastic, or wood spoons! If there is no food on EcoTasters, they may be placed in the recycle bin.
Q: Some of your products are compostable. Is that the same as biodegradable?
The primary difference between compostable and biodegradable is that compostable products require certification that they can break down into usable compost in 90 to 180 days, whereas biodegradable products do not break down in that time, and in fact, there is no specified time limit for a biodegradable product. A "biodegradable" bio-plastic fork would likely be found completely intact in a landfill 200 years from now.
Q: What if EcoTensils do end up in landfill?
EcoTensil products use much less material than other plastic, bio-plastic, and wooden spoons, sporks or forks, so using EcoTensil paperboard cutlery benefits the planet even if it ends up in landfill.
Q: Are EcoTensil products sourced from sustainably-managed forests?
GreenDot paperboard is made from FSC®†-certified paperboard produced from sustainably-managed forests.
AquaDot paperboard is PEFC®‡-certified from sustainably-managed forests (Europe) Article 33 ECHA + Directive 2008/98/EC (SVHC).
Q: Are your utensils recyclable?
Optimally, our GreenDot compostable sampling spoons should be placed in compost (commercial or home). If they are clean they can be recycled*, but they should not go into the recycling if they are contaminated with food. Check with your local recycling facility.
Our GreenDot and AquaDot products are certified as recyclable according to EN 13430.
The BlueDot™ line of utensils is not recyclable as they have a very thin poly-coating. (They can be recycled only in facilities that accept coffee cups.) We are phasing out the BlueDot range in the EU as it is no longer SUPD-compliant under the June 2021 specifications.
We do hope that one day soon, these products can be diverted from landfill as recycling processes evolve.
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Yes, to set up an account on our Shopify store, please click here.
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Once your order ships from our warehouse, you will receive an automated email with shipping confirmation and a tracking number. You may click that link to track your shipment.
You may log in to your account by selecting “Log In’
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Customers who plan to order less than 10 cases should place their orders though our online shopping cart with a credit card or through PayPal.
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You may log in to your account by selecting “Log In’
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No. Click here to see to see how to order directly from our shopping cart or from our reseller channel. [link to page with list of distributors/country flags with pop up form which asks for name, company, country and email]
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Yes we sell through food service distributors in the US and Canada. Map - Click Here
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Our ESU is the safest eating utensil used by hospitals, mental health facilities, and custody/detention centers for individuals with self-injurious behavior and on suicide watch.
The EcoSecurity Utensil is available direct via http://www.ecosecurityutensil.com.
It is also distributed by Aramark, Bob Barker, Cooks Correctional, Sodexo, and US Foods in the US.
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Orders received by our U.S. warehouse before 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time will ship out that day with UPS Ground Shipping. Orders received after 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time will ship the following business day. A confirmation email will be sent once your order ships from our warehouse.
All US orders ship from our warehouse in St Louis, Missouri
Estimated ground transit times are (not including 1 business day for processing order):
- East Coast States: 3-4 business days
- Central States: 3-4 business days
- Western States: 4-5business days
Note: We do not ship on weekends or holidays. Note: Shipments during holiday can be delayed 1-3 business days.
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We offer several options for expedited shipping, including UPS Next Day Air®, 2nd Day Air®, 2nd Day Air® A.M., Next Day Air Saver®, Fed Ex Ground, and FedEx 2Day®. Unfortunately, we are not able to ship via USPS.
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Yes, we sell through distributors throughout the US and Canada. Map [link to map of ‘Distributors in Canada and the US PDF’]
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We currently have 2 EcoTensil resellers in Canada that sell our compostable Green Dot EcoTaster sampling spoons. Click here [link to pop up] to contact our CA distributors. You may also order direct from our US HQ by calling 415 924 0233 to place your order. Note, we have a minimum US$300 for orders outside of the US.
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You may contact us at info@ecotensil.com to request a shipping quote for your order outside of the US. There is a US$300 minimum for all international orders.
We also sell through certified EcoTensil distributors outside of the US. View list of international distributors
For a list of international EcoTensil distributors, please email us the following information to info@ecotensil.com:
first name:
last name:
company:
company website:
country:
email:
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Western Canada:
BSI Biodegradable Solutions in Vancouver, BC
www.biodegradablesolutions.com/index.php
Susanna Carson
office@biodegradablesolutions.com
phone: +604-630-5115
Eastern Canada:
Nova Envirocom in Quebec
phone: +866-898-6682
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Celebration (EU and UK)
Fiona Jemmott
phone: +44 1283 538259
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Epicure Trading Ltd.
phone: +64 9 377 8925
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Think of your experience with a paper cup...that has no taste, it has a smooth, pleasing texture, it is sturdy for its purpose, it can contain hot or cold liquid, and it is sanitarily made and packaged.
EcoTensil products provide all these same attributes!
-
Just about anything you can eat with a spoon and many thing that you would eat with a fork.
Green Dot utensils: Most foods more than you can eat with a tiny plastic taster, such as chunky deli salad or soup! When folded, these sturdy tasters are strong enough to cut through even cheesecake or fudge.
Blue Dot utensils: Holds up beautifully for full servings:
- from frozen yogurt, to hot chili
- strong enough to cut through cheese cake or soft cheese —
scoops chunky fruit salad- perfect for “forkable” deli salads
- even thicker soups.
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Yes, both the Green Dot (sampling spoon) and Blue Dot (for full servings) are perfect for soups and stews. Our deeper “bowl” allows for bigger bites and less soup spillage and it includes a drip-stop fold.
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For many on-the-go or take-out meals, all that’s needed is an EcoTensil and paper napkin (all paper wrapped in paper if you want to have zero plastic). If you are serving a filet of chicken that needs cutting, then you will likely need a plastic or wood fork, knife and napkin, and also a spoon in many cases.
An EcoSpoon or even EcoTaster can be used to easily spread butter, nut butter, hummus, etc. It can scoop any scoop-able dish from pasta salad to fruit salad, eggs to oats, mac and cheese to casseroles, rice to potatoes, etc, and it can even be used to slice through easy-to-cut foods, like cheese cake, coffee cake, omelet, jello, even watermelon. And of course it works great as a spoon for spoon able foods such as yogurt, parfaits, chili or thick soups. It even makes a perfect stirrer.
Why not use the most eco-efficient, lightweight utensils when you can, even if it is not for every occasion. What better way to reduce landfill than if 65% of the time you can use 15% of the material…
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Because the paperboard is thick compared to a sheet of paper, EcoTensil products are too thick to easily cut skin. We have not seen evidence of this happening after selling over 100 million utensils.
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Yes! Wrapped EcoSpoons, iScoop and GoTensil are all designed specifically to be part of the single-serve grab-and-go packaging! Click here to see more.
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Our green dot paperboard products are 100% compostable and recyclable, including the EcoTaster Mini and Mid. EcoTasers have a mineral based coating as a moisture barrier and have passed the ASTM D6868 test for compostability.
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Yes, in our own “home compost” tests, EcoTasters broke down completely in 3-4 weeks, so they will easily compost in an industrial composting facility that requires 180 days or more. Happily, the number of compost facilities continues to increase, so items like food scraps/kitchen waste and EcoTasters can be regenerated in a closed loop lifecycle.
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Yes, in our own sea and fresh water tests, EcoTasters broke down in less than 3 weeks. Since the EcoTasters contain no poly, there is no poly added to the marine environment.
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If there’s no compost available, EcoTasters should be disposed of in the trash (landfill). However, EcoTaster is still the greenest utensil because it use 50-85% less material that plastic, bio-plastic or wood spoons! If there is no food on EcoTasters, they may be placed in the recycling bin.
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The primary difference between compostable and biodegradable is that compostable products require a specific setting in order to break down, whereas biodegradable products break down naturally. Typically composting is a faster process, but only under the right conditions.
Please see our infographic on plastic or “compostable”/”biodegradable” utensils.
[infographic link: https://www.ecotensil.eu/pages/sustainability]
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Nothing breaks down in landfill - even carrots and newspaper don’t break down. Landfill are purposefully designed that way on purpose so as to limit methane production.
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Optimally, our Green Dot compostable sampling spoons should be placed in compost (commercial or home). They should not go into the recycling if they are contaminated with food. If they are clean they can be recycled.
Blue Dot line of utensils are not recyclable (except for facilities that except coffee cups). One can feel better about disposing of in the trash/landfill because the BlueDot products use 50-85% less material that plastic, bio-plastic or wood spoons! Our Blue Dot utensils, including EcoSpoons, iScoops, and PopOuts, are made from silky-smooth renewable paperboard, similar to that of a paper cup, and include a very thin poly coating to allow them to last a long time in wet foods. Utensils and straws, in general should not be placed in the recycling bin because they are too small to go through the recycling stream.
We do hope that one day soon, these products can be diverted from landfill as recycling processes evolve.
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Yes, we do custom printing for all of our utensil lines and custom on-package utensils. Please contact us at info@ecotensil.com for more information. There’s a 50,000 unit MOQ for all custom branded utensils.
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Approximately 2 weeks.
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Yes, we do custom printing for all of our utensil lines and custom on-package utensils. Please contact us at info@ecotensil.com for more information and MOQs for each custom-printed utensil.
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Start with the on-pack [on-package [link:] section of our website, then click the contact us button and someone from the EcoTensil packaging team will get right back to you. You may also call our HQ/Packaging Team at 415-924-0233 extension 11.
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Yes, please contact us info@ecotensil.com with your needs and objectives so we can guide you to a perfect fit.