Marx Foods sent me these cool palm plates to try out and review. I was instantly intrigued because they just sound really unique and fun.
The plates are made from the leaves of the Adaka palm tree. As they grow, they discard their old leaves, and these are what are gathered and used to make the plates. There is no harvesting or cutting down of trees, just collecting discarded leaves. Then, they are cleaned and molded with a heat press. They are disposable and eco-friendly.
When I got them, the first thing I did was take one out to the palm tree in our yard so they felt "at home."
They're really thick and sturdy. The folks at Marx Foods did a weight test on them and the plate held 13 pounds before it snapped and broke. You definitely can't do that with your usual paper or plastic disposable plate!
I took one of the hexagon plates to work with me. I started my usual summer job at the ice cream shop and thought it'd be the perfect place to test a disposable plate. I love that all of the plates had high lips, so you could actually use it almost like a bowl. This held a serving of rainbow sherbet like a champ with no leaking. The bottom didn't even feel that cold! When I was done, I washed the plate under warm water with a soapy scrub brush and let it air dry to be used again. They are disposable, but they're such good quality that you can get multiple uses out of them.
We have some company visiting for the holiday weekend, so the small rectangle plates took a trip with us to our housing development's beach area for a picnic lunch.
Again, the high lip on the plate came in handy, because it kept sand away from our food. The rigid plates held their own on damp sand and weren't overturned by light breezes.
When we were done with our lunch, we sent this little toy out for a float.
We joked he had a "burial at sea." But, in all seriousness, the plates even held the weight of multiple beach and sand toys and stayed afloat and sturdy. The girls had such a blast using them as boats. Who would think that you could take your disposable plates from eating lunch and then turn them into a fun beach toy?
We played at the beach for about 3 hours and the plates held up the whole time. After being in the water they did start to warp a bit, but we just packed them up with their beach toys and as they dried they became rigid and sturdy again. We won't reuse these to eat on, but it's crazy to think that they have the ability for continued use after such a full afternoon!
The pros:
Ridiculously sturdy - you feel confident using these for any type of food, hot or cold.
Great looking - a nice, natural beauty.
Eco-friendly - no trees harmed in the making!
Disposable - you don't have to worry about breaking them, losing them, or giving them away.
The cons:
They came loose in a box, without packaging, which I was kind of skeeved about.
A slight ammonia/woodsy smell when first received, but that dissipated as aired out.
Price - these are not cheap! They come in a variety of sizes and shapes and all are over $1 per plate.
Personally, I would not use these for everyday, casual eating because of the price.
I think they would work well for a beach wedding, a family reunion, themed parties, or for giving baked goods in. Something I'm definitely going to keep them in mind for is camping- where you could rinse and reuse them the whole camping trip, discarding them at the end.
They're a really pretty product that I'm glad to have had the chance to learn about and review first hand. They're a step above paper and plastic plates, but without all the negative, disposable factors. These can even be composted when done, instead of ending up in a landfill.
Disclaimer: I received a few, assorted plate sizes complimentary from Marx Foods to use and review. The opinions are my own, honest thoughts about the product.
