Saving the planet one bite at a time

Caymanian Manusri Prabhakar is on a mission to change the way Cayman consumes its food while simultaneously saving the planet one bite at a time, and she’s doing it through her company Eco Eats.

Prabhakar, 20, a law student at Truman Bodden Law School, started the company that stocks and sells edible cutlery, with the hope that the community will use these products as an alternative to plasticware and make them part of their daily routine.

“The thing about plastic is that you use it for .. 10 minutes, five minutes… and then you throw it away and it’s out of sight and you forget about it, but it’s actually going to be on planet Earth forever…. probably until you die,” Prabhakar told the Cayman Compass in a recent interview, adding that she had become very bothered by the volume of plastics collected at local beach clean-ups.

Growing plastic waste problem a concern

It was that distress that prompted the budding entrepreneur to look at ways to reduce the plastic waste generated on island and ending up in the ocean, including microplastics.

“There have been studies that have found plastics inside of human blood, which was so scary to me. Just the thought of that is really terrifying. [I thought] we need to do something about this, even if I can do a little bit, obviously I can’t completely take away plastic from the world, but I can do little things. So I thought about cutlery and I looked really hard for alternatives to plastic cutlery,” she said.

She said that was her “lightbulb” moment and she thought immediately “we need this for Cayman and we need this now”.

Prabhakar, who was born in Bermuda, has spent most of her life in Cayman and has a passion to see her homeland lead the way when it comes to improving the environment and thus began her search to find an alternative cutlery.

She was looking for something that would not only be cost effective and reduce waste, but would actually taste good.

Prabhakar said when she found the Incredible Eats line of cutlery, she taste-tested it with the Plastic Free Cayman team, with whom she works, at a beach clean-up and “everyone there tried it.”

After that initial success, Prabhakar began her mission in earnest, launching Eco Eats with a mission to eliminate single-use plastic cutlery.

She said she would like to see government take a more meaningful approach to dealing with plastic waste, such as offering duty waivers for companies supplying single-use plastic-alternative products like hers.

This, she said, would be helpful in promoting change, as Cayman is yet to ban single-use plastic, as other countries have.

Currently, she said, getting a ban is “kind of a waiting game”.

“I remember last year they said in the third quarter they would ban it and then nothing came of it, but I am hopeful because of organisations like Plastic Free Cayman and people like myself who are so committed to this. I’m very hopeful that in the near future our government should partake in the ban of single-use plastic. I feel like we could really create a plastic-free Cayman, so, fingers crossed, I hope that they go through with it,” she said.

The Compass reached out for an update on the plans to ban single-use plastics; we are awaiting a response.

Snacking on a spoon

Prabhakar said she is already getting support from local shops like Peach Wave and Scoops, who are offering her edible cutlery as options with their products.

However, she said she would like to see the community opt out of plastic when they get their takeout meals like she does.

“When I’m at home, I have the silverware, of course, but when I go out I just take some and I put it in my purse… when I went to the Pirates Week Festival, I [said] ‘please don’t give me plastic cutlery, I have some in my bag,'” she said.

Prabhakar said the cutlery and bowls are very durable and can last an entire meal. The forks and the spoons are durable for 30 minutes, and the bowls can last over an hour, even when containing liquids, like hot soup.

The products, she said, are vegan and non-GMO.

The bowls are made of wheat flour, digestive bran, salt, rooibos (a herb with antioxidant and natural preservative qualities.)

Similarly, the cutlery is made of a variety of flours, like wheat flour, brown rice flour, corn flour, chickpea flour and oat flour. It also contains sugar, maltodextrin, sorbitol, guar gum and ethyl vanillin.

The cutlery comes in different flavours, ranging from savoury to sweet, and includes options like oregano, chilli, black pepper, chocolate and vanilla.

She likened the taste to being similar to a cracker.

“It doesn’t really disrupt the taste of your food while you’re eating it,” she said. “So while you’re eating it, you don’t taste the cutlery; it’s only after you’re done [with] your food and you eat the cutlery that you’ll taste the actual flavour. But the flavours are all very subtle to not take away from the food.”

The ‘snackable’ cutlery is packaged in paper-recyclable wrappers, and is available for retail and wholesale. It can be purchased online or through local food delivery app Bento. It can also be found at Foster’s Camana Bay (aisle 8) and Treats Restaurant in West Shore Center.