On the market, that leaves you 3 options: bamboo, wood, or palm leaves. Check out these sites:

palm leaf plates: http://www.verterra.com
wooden cutlery: http://www.eco-gecko.com
bamboo cutlery and plates: http://www.bambuhome.com

They are all great products that are truly compostable….

First, Wheatware.com states that “microbially-active soil” is required for bio-compostability of Wheatware products, (per Wheatware packaging/website). The dirt test at least shows that your “backyard dirt” lacks microbial life, which is rampant across America.

The DIRT TEST opens an important discussion.
Why won’t just “plain dirt” cause biodegradation? What is lacking?
Have you ever seen grass cuttings, left behind months ago, still sitting there on a lawn? The natural microbes are missing. Why?

First, many gardeners will unknowingly apply to lawns and gardens certain “green it up” fertilizers, placing high concentrations of “muriate potash”, which kills the microbial life in soil. This chemical overdose of “muriate potash” will “fry” the microbes, stopping the “natural cycle” of biodegradation of grass cuttings, leaves etc. While earthworms help, microbes are still needed in the soil to help to turn the organic matter into “fertile soil and build humus*”.

Our after-effect: chemical/fertilizer dependent American lawns, gardens.

What happened to get us here? Throughout the 21st century, many of us live in ‘new bedroom communities’, where new homes came with rolled out grass (sod) on top of the ‘leveled’ dirt. This leveled dirt is the after result of the bulldozers, which pushed away the topsoil including its rich organic matter, humus, worms and naturally-occurring microbes. Left behind… ‘lifeless dirt”.

Then, after the sod (grass rolls) are rolled out like a new carpet, comes the “keep it green” chemical fertilizers, many with high levels of “muriate potash”, ensuring “microbially-dead” lawns.

But, how do Americans even know this information?
Your article, while bashing of the Wheatware product, through a dead-dirt test, might help get the word out about the lack of “microbially-active soils”.

Wheatware’s “bio-compostability” tests were conducted in the rich farm soils of Nebraska, where Wheatware is manufactured now by Wheatware.com. Those organic soils are typically “microbially-active soil”.

What has been done to our lawns, gardens and soil, and how do we undo it?
Americans could use more understanding about our relationship to the natural environment. Conducting a “dirt” test… at least shows… what we think is “rich” dirt… is not, and is lacking microbial life.

How do we put back the microbes, and what quantity is necessary to invigorate the natural system? There are formulas out there, but before you do apply them, make sure that “after” you do, you don’t kill them off again with “muriate potash” based formulas.

* FYI: high levels of naturally-occurring humus, like in forests, reduce water needs. Who doesn’t want to save on watering? Build the humus content, save water, reduce your water bill.

Here is info from NewBiodegradable.com

Biodegradability & Compostability

Degradable Plastic
is plastic which will undergo a significant change in its chemical structure under specific environmental conditions resulting in a loss of some properties. Please note that there is no requirement that the plastic has to be degrade from the action of “naturally occurring microorganism” or any of the other criteria required for compostable plastics.

Biodegradable Plastic
is plastic which will degrade from the action of naturally occurring microorganism, such as bacteria, fungi etc. over a period of time. Note, that there is no requirement for leaving “no toxic residue”, and as well as no requirement for the time it needs to take to biodegrade.

Compostable Plastic
is plastic which is “capable of undergoing biological decomposition in a compost site as part of an available program, such that the plastic is not visually distinguishable and breaks down to carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass, at a rate consistent with known compostable materials (e.g. cellulose). and leaves no toxic residue.” American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM). In order for a plastic to be called compostable, three criteria need to be met:

Biodegrade – break down into carbon dioxide, water, biomass at the same rate as cellulose (paper).
Disintegrate – the material is indistinguishable in the compost, that it is not visible and needs to be screened out
Eco-toxicity – the biodegradation does not produce any toxic material and the compost can support plant growth.

A plastic therefore may be degradable but not biodegradable or it may be biodegradable but not compostable (that is, it breaks down too slowly to be called compostable or leaves toxic residue).