Cutlery creations: Upper Sixth pupil makes edible cutlery in a bid to reduce plastic waste

Haileybury is always looking for new innovative ways in which to become more sustainable. As a School, we believe that is vital that we listen to the ideas of our pupils, who are regularly coming up with new ideas on how we can be as environmentally friendly as possible.

For his CAS project, Upper Sixth pupil Ayaan recently attempted to make his own edible cutlery. Made from natural and healthy ingredients such as wheat flour, rice flour and sorghum, it is a fantastic alternative to single-use plastics.

“Edible cutlery is a renewable and sustainable utensil which is made from natural and healthy ingredients. It is environmentally friendly as the cutlery biodegrades quickly and can be eaten after use. It is a tasty, healthy and environmentally friendly substitute to single-use plastic.” Said Ayaan.

Ayaan was inspired by entrepreneur Narayan Peesapaty, who started a company called Bakeys. Bakeys manufacture edible cutlery on a huge scale, so Anyaan reached out to them in order to understand more about the benefits of edible cutlery and after learning more, he began trialling his own.

“I have currently completed two trials and am quite happy with the improvements in the second trial. When I return to India, I will try making the edible cutlery in more flavours, and try to make it more visually appealing.”

Ayaan hopes that his project will inspire people to reduce their plastic waste and look into using and purchasing items that are more sustainable.

“My main reason for doing this project is to create an alternative for plastic cutlery. We are all quite dependent on single-use plastic, like plastic bottles, plastic cutlery and plastic bags. This plastic takes thousands of years to biodegrade and is harming our planet and animals. Animals consume plastic believing it to be food, or get caught up in pieces of it; this results in injury or death. I hope my project can inspire others to reduce their plastic usage and shift to more sustainable alternatives.”

We look forward to seeing Ayaan’s cutlery creations in the future.