A startup made edible spoons to save us from plastic — and they're delicious

Bakey's

Some 40 million tons of reusable plastic cutlery get thrown away every year, most of them after a single use. This plastic can take up to 1,000 years to break down in the environment. Meanwhile, they collect in our oceans, adding to an already long list of environmental concerns we face today.

Bakeys, an edible cutlery manufacturer based in India, might have a promising solution. The company launching the world's first edible cutlery line. Yes — that's a spoon that you can eat. Earlier this month, 9,293 backers on the popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter pledged $278,847, to the startup — 14 times more than its initial $20,000 goal.

Bakeys' products, which include a line of spoons, forks, and chopsticks, are completely biodegradable and edible. The spoons come in savory, sweet, and plain. 

We tried them for a week, and learned quite a bit:

On a typical day at work, whether I bring my lunch or buy it, I usually pick up disposable plastic cutlery.

But this week, I had a set of Bakey's spoons, which I carried throughout the week in my backpack. My first impression of the spoons: they look sturdier than expected given how light they are, and they smell really good!

I get lunch — some sweet potato stew — from one of my usual spots, and skip the disposable cutlery section, feeling pretty good about myself.