Five eco-friendly cutting board options
June 24, 2009 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Green Living
It doesn’t make sense to buy organic food and then cut it up on a planet harming cutting board. Plastic cutting boards of the past are made with petroleum products – a non-renewable resource plus can deposit little plastic bits into your food (look at a plastic cutting board after you use it!) There are better, longer lasting, more earth friendly options in cutting boards nowadays.
1. The Bamboo Cutting Board Set is one of my favorite eco-cutting board sets because it comes with both silicone flexible boards for ease of food transfer but also comes with a pretty and durable bamboo cutting board that anchors the silicone boards for less slipping around the kitchen.
2. Teak Cutting Board: Teak is super strong, lasts a long time, and is beautiful to boot. Made by Proteak Renewable Forestry.
3. Preserve cutting boards, made from 100% recycled plastic and recyclable in communities with #5 recycling. Also nice bright colors.
4. Dishwasher safe Totally Bamboo GreenLite Cutting Board Collection.
5. Black Epicurean Cutting Surfaces look like classic dark ceramic but are actually made of eco-friendly natural fiber composite, plus the laminate is non-porous and won’t dull knives.
Question. I love Preserve for what they’re doing in terms of recycling, but is using a recycled plastic cutting board any better than an ordinary one? Won’t the little pieces of plastic still come off or no? Thanks for an informative piece as always!
I think other sustainable boards are better because as you note, this doesn’t cut down on the possible plastic in humans issue. However, I’ve gotten emails from folks worried about wood cutting board safety, which I’ve posted on before and personally think is totally safe, BUT I know some people will only buy plastic, and recycled is better than new I suppose. It’s a toss up – what people will use – sort of shades of green. Great comment though
I should have noted all this above.
Being as I’m NOT a cook and generally do what’s easy, I rarely use a cutting board. Instead, I grab a plate! Now that I think about it, maybe that’s the best solution. I know there are glass cutting boards (don’t know about recycled), but ceramic works fine too. But then, I don’t have any sharp knives, LOL!
I know of a company that is starting up with a really sweet new spin on cutting boards. Solum is a company that recently opened and they are making cutting boards from reclaimed asian hardwoods. End grain, edge grain and more. The wood has been heat treated and kiln dried so it is completely kitchen safe.
These boards are a mix of many different types of reclaimed tropical woods, w/ colors ranging from gold to burgundy and brown to tan. Their sublime styles and use of reclaimed wood make them one of the best eco friendly cutting board options for cooks who care.
I have a teak board that I bought from Proteak.com about 2 years ago. I was using heavy new age plastics before. I am a caterer and spend hours upon hours every day chopping away, and I can honestly say the renewable, green option is the way to go. The teak boards are still going strong 2 years later. I just bought a bamboo last week and am excited to see how it holds up in the kitchen.
Just bought a couple of glass cutting boards. Seem the best choice in the long run although they do take a little more handling care. Still, there is no food safety issue and they don’t need to be “cared for.”