When Disposable Plates are Green

Products like disposable chopsticks, disposable diapers and disposable coffee cups have often drawn TreeHugger's ire for adding more mass to the waste stream, and while compostable tableware and other biodegradable kitchen goods are a step in the right direction, you often need a compost heap to get them to fully break down.

As a solution to this -- a way to cut out the middle man, as it were -- Japanese designer Nobuhiko Arika has created a collection of edible tableware, a set of truly disposable dinnerware that includes a plate, bowl and chopsticks. Made from hardtack, a biscuit dough made from flour, water and salt that has traditionally been used as dry emergency rations at sea, the collection is designed to replace disposable dishware with one twist: you can eat it when you're done.

These "dishes" will keep for months when kept dry; it might not be the best solution for your morning bowl of cereal, or hot bowl of soup, but for drier goods, the dishes might add a nice cracker course to your meals on the go. The pieces are being produced by the Designing10 in Fukuoka, Japan, from April 25 to 29. What will they come up with next? via ::dezeen