Eco-Friendly Ice Cream - Hallelujah!

I realize that this is not a cause for celebration for everyone, but I think it should be.

Manhattan’s hot trend this summer is the traveling dessert van. The food truck already existed - you can get hot dogs, souvlaki and roasted peanuts on many corners throughout the five boroughs. What’s new are tricked-out, designer vans that travel to a different area everyday selling donuts, cupcakes and other sugary confections.

My favorite so far is Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream. The truck is minimally designed, with the list of current flavors on the outside of the truck. The first time I caught site of the truck, I had a chat with the owner who was selling scoops that day near Union Square. His mission is simple: make delicious ice cream from the best, organic (sometimes local) ingredients possible.

He also gets my vote because he serves these delicately delicious flavors with biogradable / biocompostable bowls and spoons. As I was sampling Giandujia (hazelnut and chocolate) last Sunday, I jotted down the website on my spoon.

Worldcentric makes a line of bowls, plates, cutlery, even garbage and grocery bags that are kinder to the environment to produce, gentler to discard and can even be emblazoned with business logos. They also sell Seventh Generation paper products from their site.

Admittedly, you have to spend a minimum of $25, which adds up to a lot of $2.75 packs of 50 forks. If you’re having a party or bulk ordering for family, though, it’s a decent deal.

If a dessert truck can take this tiny extra step, why can’t every company? It’s a fair question to ask given how easy and affordable Worldcentric makes it for consumers and businesses to buy these products. I admit if it meant sourcing items individually, or making eco-friendly cutlery myself, I wouldn’t do it.

But Worldcentric has done the hard part. It’s up to the rest of us to require companies to make a change and to make the change ourselves.


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Lauree has a penchant for travel and food and knows just enough about technology to get herself in trouble. By day, she is a Communications Consultant and Certified Coach based in New York helping individuals to negotiate life's milestones in their own way. With ten years of public relations and marketing experience and a life coaching certification, she connects clients to who they are in order to express themselves more clearly. In the process, they articulate what's important to them and remove obstacles to go after what they really want – the sky's the limit. Check out Lauree's blog at laureee.blogspot.com
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