We all know that using any sort of cup that is washable is far superior to disposable versions. It’s better for the planet, uses less land fill space, no trees get cut down, and more…

GreenHome.com offers suggestions for eco-friendly alternatives to popular earth-nasty products. Included in their offerings is a travel mug made from corn-starch. This sustainable and renewable organic compound looks and feels like plastic but under years of hot and moist conditions, will biodegrade . I don’t think you can put it in the dishwasher, buy hey, your christmas shopping just got a whole lot easier!

You can choose from 3 different designs printed with vegetable derived inks.

Paper cup manufacturer, International Paper, has created a cup that is defininitely a step in the right direction. Their Ecotainer hot beverage cup is lined with corn protein instead of plastic. According to their press release this small move to replacing the petro-chemical ingredients could save enough energy to heat over 8,300 American homes a year. They mention on the site that they also use renewable energy to produce the cup but strangely there is no mention of the cups’ virgin paper content. While perhaps a bit of green-washing from a company whose core business still relies on trees for it’s profit, they offer a slightly less evil disposable cup that is ready for use in your local Starbucks today.

Looks like the biodegradable plastic bottle is finally here. All those disposable water bottles we just throw in the trash all come from refined crude oil, likely shipped from the Middle East. Innocent is a company with a healthy organic juice product that implements bottles made from modified corn starch. Save them up and put them in your garden instead of ‘recycling’ them like regular plastic bottles.