What is Tapioca?
Tapioca is a flavorless, colorless, odorless starch extracted from the root of the plant species Mani hot esculenta. This species, native to South America, in now cultivated worldwide. Tapioca is a staple food in some regions and is used worldwide as a thickening agent, principally in foods.
Commercially, the starch is processed into several forms: powder, fine or coarse flakes or meal (”flour”), sticks, and “pearls”. The powder is commonly used as a thickener for soups and other liquid foods, and is also used as a binder in pharmaceutical tablets and natural paints. The flour is used to make tender breads, cakes, cookies, and other delicacies (see Maida flour). Flakes are used to thicken the filling of pies made with fruits having high water content.
How is a bag made from Tapioca?
Tapioca bags are made using the conventional machinery as regular plastic bags including, such downstream processed as blown extrusion, injection and thermoforming. The difference is in the material content of the bag, where plastic bags consist of polyethylene, tapioca bags are made from the starch of the tapioca plant.
Tapioca plants are grown in the poorer third world countries. This specific crop helps these countries financially by adding additional income. Additionally, the Tapioca plant does not require additional watering, fertilizers or pesticides.
The plant is divided between its root (the usable starch), its leaves (other edible portion) and trunk, which is divided and replanted.
The root is processed into pellets for the processes of converting into plastic type bags.
What are the benefits of Tapioca Bags?
Tapioca bags incorporate new bio-photo double degradable technology using unique tapioca starch-based formula to produce starch based resins with unique characteristics that allow for responsible disposal of products through hydrolytic, biodegradable action, or clean incineration, with a positive life cycle impact. Most biodegradable plastic bags are produced by blending chemical additive with petroleum-based polyesters, which improves the bag’s strength and processability with conventional film equipment.
With summer coming to a close and school just around the corner, let’s spend our days flying kites. So many choices, we’ll start with the easiest, you’ll need a bag from you local grocer /retail store these are perfect for a preschooler to pull behind her as she runs, or you can tie the handles together and leave a bit of string for a true kite experience. Let’s kick it up a notch; we can turn that grocery bag into a real kite with some bamboo skewers, tape and string. Click on this link for step by step kite directions. So grab the kids and go fly a kite. 
