Why We Chose This: eco-friendly, lightweight, practical

Price: £9
Weight: 16g
More info: kupilka.fi

This, the Spork 225 is much more eco-friendly than your standard spork. Rather than nasty hard plastics or metals, it’s made using 50% pinewood from Finland and 50% thermoplastic.

OK that plastic buzzword is still there, yes, but don’t fear, because Kulpika, the Finnish company behind this has ensured that there’s zero carbon footprint in its production. In fact, the business as a whole is totally neutral in its eco impact – the offices, for instance, are heated by the waste heat from their production process.

Each of Kulpika’s products are manufactured using what they call EkoEnergy, that’s energy that is carbon neutral, and they’re all totally recyclable when they’ve reached the end of their life (which they probably won’t, unless an accident happens). Even the packaging is made using recycled and recyclable cardboard.

“Kupilka’s products range from cups and cutlery to fire steels, chopping boards and shot glasses.”

Weighing just 16g, the spork itself is ideal for backpackers who like to take a lightweight approach. At 225mm in length its also the right size for use with those deep dehydrated meal pouches.

It’s definitely less durable than a metal spork, and most plastic ones as well, but that’s not to say it’s flimsy. You’d have to bend this reasonably aggressively in order to snap it (we didn’t want to test our sample out to that extreme – it’s too nice), and as a matter of fact, Kupilka say it will be much more durable in extreme cold weather than plastic will be.