- [Ben] We are sorted.
A group of mates from London,
exploring the newest and best in the world of food,
whilst trying to have a few laughs along the way.
(laughs)
We've got chefs, we've got normals,
(beeps)
and a whole world of stuff for you to explore
but everything we do starts with you.
(upbeat guitar music)
Hello, I'm Jamie, this is Ben, and this is Fridge Camp.
And today, we're digging in on the topic
of single-use plastics within the food industry.
- Hashtag clickbyte.
- And I have managed to get hold of a few samples.
I'm gonna put them to tests.
Are they any good or not?
- (whispers) Probably not, but maybe.
(inquisitive music)
- Big topic here.
We've got lots of plastic replacement products
we want you to review and give your thoughts on.
You might notice that you actually had two cloches.
The first revealing the item.
It will not be made of plastic.
The second will reveal what the plastic
has been substituted with,
and what the product is made out of,
and we'd like you to guess.
See if you can work it out.
Would you like to lift the cloche on your right?
- (laughs)
- Good job there.
- It's a massive plastic glove.
- It's a plastic glove.
- [Mike] Is it?
- [Ben] Usually, single-use plastic
used in food service industry, perhaps at home,
if you don't wanna get spice or chili
or beetroot over things,
and within the medical industry as well,
but we're looking at kitchens.
It's created by a company called "Vegware"
and they make bio-plastics.
- Well, as it's well-known, using plastic gloves
is less hygienic than using hands.
- Sorry, what?
How?
- 'Cause people tend to wash their hands less
when they're using gloves, 'cause they don't realize
that they've got sticky stuff on their hands.
It's just on the gloves.
- Interesting!
- Usually, I like my gloves a little tighter.
- What I can say is it's very tight on my middle finger.
I didn't realize I had such a big middle finger.
(laughs)
- It's 'cause it's one you exercise most.
(laughs)
- It acts a lot like plastic.
- I mean in all honesty, that looks and feels
like a plastic glove.
- I'm gonna take a stab, considering you've told me
what the company's called, that it's made out of vegetables.
- Lift the cloche.
- [Ben] That is representative of the ingredients in it.
So, sugarcane, corn starch and other vegetable matter
to produce bio-plastics that are compostable.
- Okay.
- [Mike] What I like about it is
all the heads of the spring onions that you don't use
would go onto a compost heap.
Well, they'd just taken the compost heap,
and turn them into gloves, which then,
after you've used them, can go on the compost heap.
- Yeah, that's nice, isn't it?
Nice circle.
(clinks)
- That was quite dangerous.
- So, it's compostable P.L.A. material, polylactic acid,
different from most thermal plastic polymers,
and it is derived from renewable resources,
rather than non-renewable petroleum reserves.
So, it is bio-plastic.
- It hasn't dissolved.
- My hand is nice and clean.
- It does do what it claims to do, right?
- It does, yes, it does do what it claims to do.
- [Ben] Same company, Vegware, also make those compostable
steel from bio-plastic, vegetable matter,
and they're very sturdy hot-and-cold use.
- That's more impressive, because I hate,
I hate wooden cutlery.
- Sometimes eating off wood isn't the nicest.
- No. - It does impart flavor.
- Yeah, you're right, these feel really sturdy.
Does it cost twenty pounds per glove?
- So, I've got a box here of powdered blue vinyl gloves,
about three P a glove.
- Three pence per glove, okay.
- The ones you're holding there are 103 pounds for a case.
You get 2400, which makes them four pence per glove.
A penny more or 30% more, 33% more?
- Yeah. - Everything's relative.
- I'm sure people would work within their budget, surely,
one penny extra.
- To an industrial scale, this is something
that's actually really cool to know about.
(relaxing guitar music)
- Straw, oh!
- [Jamie] Can I work out if they're chopsticks
or straws, or both?
(gasps)
Now, that is an invention.
- Chop-straws!
- [Ben] Two different straws, two different materials.
If it helps you, I've got you a gin and tonic,
and a smoothie, if you want to give any of them a go.
- Excellent.
This one seems bamboo-y.
- It's not bamboo.
- I think I know what this is.
Is this a pasta straw?
- You don't know what that is.
- This one is a little more papery, I don't know.
I just find drinking out of that weird.
It looks really organic.
- The two you have in front of you
are both compostable, and biodegradable.
So, yeah, we know that plastic straws are the enemy.
We know there's lots of other versions that perhaps
include glass or metal or bamboo, that are reusable,
but there's the problem of having to clean them each time.
These are single-use.
- I've not been in a bar
that served plastic straw for a while.
- What are you being served instead then?
- Paper.
- [Mike] Okay.
(vomits)
- [Mike] Metal?
- Paper's awful, yeah, couple of metal one.
- Tried metal straws.
- [Mike] Don't like them, I--
- I don't know, you get a very metallic taste.
- Yeah, and nails a ting of your teeth.
- Yeah, it's not good.
- Metal straws are a nightmare because you can't tell
if they're actually clean on the inside,
so they're causing health and safety problems,
'cause they're not hygienic,
'cause although they might've had
a little brush up the (whistles),
they're not necessarily entirely clean.
(laughs)
- A brush up the (whistles)
(laughs)
That was an unnecessary (whistles)
(laughs)
You didn't need to (whistles) there at all.
- [Ben] An awful lot of apples are juiced for apple juice,
and once you've got rid of the juice
for apple juice or cider, you're left with stuff.
And that stuff can be turned into that.
- They also say that that is edible.
It softens over time,
but that you can still use it as a straw,
but that it should taste sour and sweet, like apple.
- The other one, the paler one you see
is made from avocado stones.
The company that make them, based in Mexico,
use 15 tons of avocado stones a day,
that is otherwise agricultural waste.
- That's decent.
- I've always wondered
what you could do with avocado stones.
- And to be fair, these new companies are very secretive
about their methods for obvious reasons.
However, they talk about the positives of what they do use,
not necessarily how they do it, but it is compostable.
Do you think the organic nature of it
is a positive selling point?
- I think the avocado one is more so
because it just feels more like a plastic straw.
It's like the solution to the problem,
rather than like the interim of paper.
- You know what?
The biggest difference that you could make.
Teaching people how to drink from a glass.
- Does beg the question.
(laughs)
What do we even need straws?
- Do we? - There's a few
people who need them
'cause they have medical, life-changing conditions,
that mean a straw is necessary.
- [Mike] Absolutely.
- Maybe we should all just stop sucking,
and start sipping.
- Do you really care?
- Yeah.
Yeah, I would care enough to buy avocado stone straws
over plastic straws, even though it's gonna cost
a little bit more cash.
- [Ben] Apple fiber straws.
They're currently selling a box of 500 for about 39 quid,
which makes them eight pence a straw.
- Okay.
- [Ben] Avocado stone straws, eight pound 99
for a box of 150, that makes them six pence a straw.
- It's a pass for me.
(upbeat drumming)
- [Mike] Go for it, mate.
(lips smacking)
- [Jamie] What is that?
I have absolutely no idea.
- It's something to keep things fresh.
- [Mike] How did you know that?
- 'Cause it says "Keep it fresh, keep it fresh,
"keep it fresh".
- [Ben] What do you think it's made out of?
- Something, and then bees wax.
It's an alternative to cling film.
- Oh, it's clammy.
- [Ben] Just out of interest,
how often do you stroke cling film?
- Quite often, 'cause you have to stroke it
when you put it on things.
So, yeah, actually, most days.
(laughs)
- That's the finger being used.
- That's why your middle finger's so big!
(laughs)
- [Ben] It's called among other things a "bread wrap".
So, it's perfect for wrapping up bread to keep it fresh,
rather than cling film.
Instruction for use.
The warmth from your hand
will begin to soften the material and help to seal it in,
cling it in.
- It was more satisfying than I expected it,
like it sticks to itself a little bit.
Yeah, actually for wrapping bread, it seems quite good.
What else would you wrap?
- Whoever cling-film the bottom of a bowl?
- [James] What are you doing?
- I can't put it on the other side of the bowl,
'cause it'll give away what it's made of.
Lasagna sheets.
(laughs)
- It works, yeah.
- [Ben] You had a good guess at bees wax.
It is made from 100% organic cotton,
the kind of the resin and the stickiness comes
from pine resin, sumac wax, sunflower wax,
rice bran wax and other things.
It is soy- and palm oil-free and is a vegan bread wrap.
One other thing to consider, don't use it to wrap hot food.
And if you're washing it, wash it in cold, soapy water,
not hot, soapy water.
- I like the idea of this, actually.
I like the idea of replacing cling film
with something that's reusable.
- Doesn't feel to me
like a multi-use alternative to cling film,
where you're gonna use it on different things
at different points.
- Salads at a family barbecue,
you might have five on a table.
- Yeah.
- You'd need five-- - Need five wraps.
- How much do you reckon the wrap is, J?
- Oh!
- A fiver?
- Five pounds.
- J, that food wrap is 16 pounds.
- Whoa!
Okay.
- That's a lot.
That's a lot of cling film.
At sorted it would cost like hundreds of pounds
to kit your kitchen out with this.
- So, is that the barrier in, and therefore, is this a "No"?
- I would just like one
that doesn't have nice writing on it, and that isn't vegan,
and that's five pounds.
- I like these products that are compostable,
and throw-away-able with your other food waste.
I like that because people are inherently lazy,
and that's something
that these companies have aimed to solve.
(brass music)
- Go ahead, buddy!
- Po po!
Oh!
Is it a washing up brush?
- It's a scouring pad.
- [Ben] Many of your washing up materials are plastic,
obviously you want something
that's durable in hot, soapy water,
that isn't gonna dissolve, and needs to be long-lasting.
That is an alternative.
What do you think?
- It seems all right!
- If it's not plastic, what is it?
- The tail of a beaver.
- I think the handle's definitely made of wood.
- Not lasagna?
- Not lasagna sheets, (laughs)
- It's got some metal in it.
- It's hard bristles.
- I have no idea what the bristles are.
I feel like I should know--
- You mean like that's a shoe brush or something?
- Yeah, I didn't wanna say shoe brush,
'cause it makes me sound posh,
but it reminds me of shoe brushes
outside of a country house.
Damn it!
- To scrape your wellies before you go in kind of thing?
- Yeah, exactly, yeah.
- I think it's a twig.
(laughs)
- Bamboo!
(laughs)
And that's grass, isn't it?
(laughs)
Well, lift the cloche.
This is an Australian brand, EcoCoconut,
and it's made ethically in Sri Lanka
from sustainable farmed coconut fiber,
and then, wrapped around stainless steel wire,
importantly, removes leftover residue
including the stubborn ones.
Non-scratch, no plastic or toxic chemicals, sustainable,
naturally anti-bacterial and toxin-free,
biodegradable, stroke, recyclable.
Basically, they have won a number of sustainability awards
for their work.
- It's come all the way from Australia?
I sound like a real prick when I say things like that.
It is part of the bigger conversation,
'cause you find yourself in this murky, murky world
of actually like, from a lifelong perspective,
how much more eco-friendly is that?
- But if you've got a startup,
and you're approaching the problem from that perspective,
you're not gonna bother trying to innovate,
and sometimes we need the mavericks to innovate something,
yeah, they just happen to be in Australia,
but if this is brilliant and it works,
and it solves the problem, then it will get replicated
all over the world.
How much?
- Genuinely, I think it should, like,
if it was a fiver, it'd probably be quite good?
- Seven dollars, that's not far off a fiver.
- [James] Oh, it's a fiver.
I would never have known about it,
unless you put it in front of me though,
like I wouldn't actively search out an alternative
to what I'm used to
because I didn't really see a problem with it until now.
- Isn't it interesting
how plastic straws become a conversation,
which you might go to a bar once or twice a week,
and use plastic straws, but the plastic
that you probably use once or twice in your sink,
- Go unnoticed.
- people don't necessarily consider?
- [Mike] So, when it comes to it,
what are you not willing to compromise on,
with a plastic replacement?
- I haven't found that I'm not willing to compromise
on anything, 'cause I don't really have a choice,
like if I go to a bar, and they serve paper straws,
it's that, or no straw, so it's not what I'm willing
to compromise on, it's like,
what I have to compromise on there.
- Functionality.
Everything has been about making things better.
The hardest is now trying to tell people.
That thing that you really love that's made your life better
and easier, and more luxurious and things,
we're gonna take that away from you.
- I'm willing to compromise in costs,
within reason.
- For me, products like this,
you have to take a step forward,
and if you start digging into everything,
you're gonna find some pitfalls.
However, we need to act and do something.
And if you can educate yourself to the point
where you're able to make a decision,
which could just be "I'm no longer gonna buy
"a plastic washer-upper, I'm gonna buy one of these."
And if enough people act and do something,
no matter how small, there are seven billion people
in the world, that will make a difference.
- Yeah.
- And if whilst that's happening, all the protests,
and awareness is being raised, so that the policy makers
are making a difference, you meet in the middle,
and then you actually start to make a big difference.
We are the ones that make the policy makers listen.
- Because we essentially vote them into power,
and we buy their products.
And if we all start kicking off,
they're gonna have to change something.
And I feel like that's
what we're on the cusp of at the moment, which is exciting,
and that's why as a group of mates, and with our channel,
we should be talking about these things.
- Give the video a like,
if you enjoy watching us test these products,
and we wanna know your opinions,
'cause this is a massive topic.
- We felt that we've covered a lot of ground,
but comment down below, which of these plastics
should we be prioritizing elimination of,
or what will or won't you be prepared
to compromise on, or do you even care?
Comment down below.
- Not only that,
but we also got proper stuck into this topic
on our podcast, "Feast Your Ears",
you can get all the details for that,
and how to join the sorted club downstairs.
- But one thing you don't have to go away for,
is "Dadjoke of the week".
(giggles)
I love the fact that you're giggling already.
You haven't even told me yet.
- Went for curry with a friend the other day,
he kept choking every time he had a bite of rice,
turns out he's basmatic.
(chuckles)
Thank you very much.
(laughs)
Have a good weekend, everyone, good-bye!
- [Mike] As we mentioned, we don't just make topic quality
YouTube videos.
- [Jamie] No!
- [Mike] We've built the sorted club,
where we use the best things we've learnt
to create stuff that's hopefully interesting
and useful to other food lovers.
Check it out if you're interested.
Thank you for watching, and we'll see you in a few days.
(upbeat music)
(beeps)
- Are we going to be missing out on the avocados
that could be grown that aren't now being planted?
- So, your argument is--
(laughs)
- What you're saying--
- If we made straws out of the stones,
we're gonna run out of avocados, and therefore,
run out of stones?
- That is the same argument to say
that every time you eat an apple,
do you send the seeds back to be replanted?
(laughs)
Farting idiot!
- [Mike] This is why - (laughs)
- We have a normal and a chef.