Green Cutting Boards - Epicurean

I have been a bit preoccupied with cutting boards lately. The common ones are made from either wood, plastic, or glass. I have something against the sound of cutting on glass ones. The plastic ones make me feel as if I am eating plastic fragments in my food. And the wood ones are supposed to be difficult to clean...

My research quickly left me confused. I kept ending up at various health department sites that contradicted one another. One would say that plastic harbors microbes longer than wood. Another would say that you should use a bleach solution on both wood and plastic boards, when another would say that bleach has no affect on the wood boards due to their composition. Another would say that wood has its own disinfecting quality that kills microbes. And as I kept reading, all I really wanted to find was a site that told me what was the most healthy board and how could I care for it. ORGANICALLY. I don't want to clean anything with chlorine bleach that I then eat off of. Call me silly. Many people do. As a vegetarian, I don't use cutting boards for meat, but I do use them all the time for bread (wood) and veggies and fruit (plastic) and I just want to know what it best. I was shocked that not one site mentioned toxins in plastic, since that is such a big topic right now. Does anyone know much about this?

What I did find to share was this video on how to organically clean a wooden cutting board (super easy!).


And I found a blog, Bright Seeker, that mentions Epicurean, a company based in Duluth, Minnesota (I am originally from Minneapolis). The have a Recycled Series of cutting boards! Bright Seeker is a long time user of Epicurean boards, which were normally made of Eco Select paper, but now they are also available made from recycled cardboard composite! They meet NSF approval and are stain and heat resistant, kind to knives, and they can be washed in the dishwasher. They range in price from $12 - $35 US. I am so excited and can't wait to write up a post on my new cutting boards!!

UPDATE: I emailed Karie Duff, at Epicurean, and asked her to read over this post to make sure I had everything correct. She said that the Recycled Series of cutting boards in not NSF approved, but the all of their other products are made from wood fibers from sustainable forests, so they have the NSF approval. And she pointed aout again that the Recycled Series can be washed in the dishwasher. Thanks, Karie!