EcoTensil Offers A New, Safe, Paperboard Spoon

LARKSPUR, CA, November 18, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ — SpoonLidz LLC (www.spoonlidz.com), creators of the first sustainable packaging lid that converts to a spoon, today announced the launch of its newest offering, a slick paperboard spoon called EcoTensil , which is the first highly functional eating utensil incapable of being used to cause harm.

The new EcoTensil is made from slick, moisture-resistant paperboard, like a milk carton. In one fold, it becomes the perfect rigid scoop for any soft or bite size foods, from yogurt to cottage cheese, chili to macaroni and cheese, oatmeal to cereal, mashed potatoes to potato salad, applesauce to fruit-cups, and for other semi-solid foods. It’s a great safe choice where inmates or patients might use eating utensils to harm themselves or others.

EcoTensil is currently being used in California State Correctional (CSP) facilities, including CSP-SAC in Folsom California. According to prison authorities, EcoTensil is a safe alternative for those who may misuse other utensils, providing a much better option than eating with fingers. And because facilities can serve more than just finger foods to these groups, it really can solve finger-food-only menu issues.

“We recommend [EcoTensils]. They provide a safe utensil for our mental health inmates/patients to eat with and prevent self harm or harm to staff,” said Richard Castaneda, Warehouse Manager. “Our Psychiatric staff says that they are more humane than using their fingers or paper tabs.”

“We found an unmet need in the California prison system,” said Peggy Cross, founder of SpoonLidz. “They had an urgent need for a safe utensil, and EcoTensil fits the bill to a tee. You can’t even give someone a paper cut with one of these! Now that it’s out there, demand has been spreading by word of mouth though the prisons and mental health facilities”

As an added bonus, EcoTensils are eco-friendly since they are made from renewable paperboard. They are less expensive to produce than most corn- or bio-based spoons, and EcoTensil uses significantly less material than other disposable utensils so they are highly space efficient. A box of 5,000 EcoTensils is about the same size as 1,000 bio-plastic spoons.

As with SpoonLidz, its sister brand, “The response from the trade has been that EcoTensil is one of those why-didn’t-anyone-come-up-with-this-sooner ideas.” Cross says.

Source: SpoonLidz, LLC