In northern China, one and a half hours from Beijing is Hebei, can be found the home of The Wheat Straw Factory. How we found it My kindred have been farmers for generations. We care about reducing our footprint and are fully aware that the wheat stalk has always been treated as waste. In some countries, farmers even burn it, contributing to greenhouse gas pollution. When we found a factory that had invented another use for it, we just had to visit. The process and way of working The Wheat Factory uses byproduct after wheat grains have been harvested. Agricultural waste will be readily available as long as humanity engages in agriculture. The wheat straw is naturally gluten-free, since only the seeds and chaffs contains gluten. We spent time to figure out how to avoid unnecessary packaging and ended up with just a single rubber band. Since the product only contains the straws, it is 100% biodegradable, unbleached and natural product. It is strong enough to be dishwashable and when drinking hot, the straws will be a little softer. It has FDA and RoHS approval and the factory passed a BSCI test in February 2019. About the owner The Wheat Straw Factory has been around since the late 2010s. It is a small family business, with 60 employees working close to nature.