New Delhi: Plastic bags, spoons, pens, bottles, straws, have become an integral part of our life. From the toothbrush we use to brush our teeth, to the bottles we use to drink water, to the pen we use on a daily basis, almost each and everything uses plastic. This excessive usage of plastic leads to 9 million tonnes of plastic waste in the ocean every year. A trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year. Nearly a million plastic beverage bottles are sold every minute. Keeping in mind the humongous amount of plastic waste we generate every year, people across the world have started coming up with alternatives to commonly used plastic products. Here is what some of the other countries are doing to #BeatPlasticPollution.
Also Read: World Environment Day 2018: Are Recyclable Plastics A Viable Option For India?
1. A Plastic Bag That Is Safe Enough To Consume
The non-biodegradable nature of plastic and the danger it poses to human and animal life is what this alternative seems to address. An Indonesia based company has come up with an alternative to plastic bags. Made from Yuca, a root vegetable, the bag looks and feels just like a regular plastic bag, but since it is derived from a plant it is 100 per cent biodegradable. Infact it is so eco-friendly that it dissolves in water without contaminating it. So even if this water is consumed by humans or animals it is absolutely safe and poses no danger to their life.
The plastic bag that isn’t plastic, but instead, 100% plant.#plasticfree #plastic #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/mZobtAYtgY
— Precision Homes (@PrecisionHomes_) April 23, 2018
Also Read: 5 Cool Waste Management Ideas From The World That India Can Adopt
2. Sip It Or Eat It? Decide For Yourself And Your Environment
While most of the people in India are working towards stopping the use of single use plastic straws or coming up with eco-friendly alternatives, a restaurant in Bristol, England- Brace and Browns, is using pasta in place of regular plastic straw. Though it is not that difficult to drink directly from the glass, but even if you want to, pasta is not a bad option.
Heart News, quoted David Brown, Brace and Brown’s owner as, “Customers think it is a great idea and is hoping to offer gluten free alternatives in the future too.”
A restaurant in Bristol is using pasta instead of #plastic straws. @braceandbrowns owner David Brown says customers think it’s a great idea and is hoping to offer gluten free alternatives in the future too. #HeartNews pic.twitter.com/MWlZbXW4Hb
— Heart West News (@HeartWestNews) May 1, 2018
Also Read: This World Environment Day Bid Adieu To Plastic Straws And Give Them A Creative And Useful Makeover
3. Save Environment: Grab A Plate And Eat It
What if we tell you that you can eat your plate once you have finished your food? Sounds weird? But a Poland based company Biotrem has come up with a novel yet environment friendly innovation- biodegradable edible plates and bowls, which can be eaten! Made from wheat bran, the plates biodegrade in just 30 days compared to months and years taken otherwise by paper and plastic plates or cups. To produce up to 10,000 units of these edible plates or bowls, 1 tonne of edible wheat bran is required which is then heated, compressed and made watertight. Biotrem’s disposable wheat bran tableware is suitable for serving both hot and cold meals. The utensils can be used in ovens or microwaves, as well.
https://www.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/videos/10154862479806479/
Also Read: Plastic Waste: How Different Countries Are Handling Plastic And What India Can Learn
4. Goodbye Plastic Bottles, Hello Environment Friendly Bottles
Ari Jónsson, a product design student at Iceland Academy of the Arts has designed a biodegradable water bottle that starts to decompose as soon as you finish drinking. Made from algae jelly which is chilled into a bottle shaped mould, it requires liquid to retain its shape. So, once you have finished the content of the bottle, you can actually throw it to decompose or may be eat it to satiate your hunger pangs.
Biodegradable breakthrough. Read more: https://t.co/Drml4NTSZL pic.twitter.com/VrkY1MhFS9
— World Economic Forum (@wef) October 3, 2017
Also Read: Plastic Ban: What India Can Learn From Other Countries
5. Plastic To Roads: Walk For Environment
Plastic which gets discarded indiscriminately, contaminating water bodies or landfills, dominates the garbage that gets dumped on the roadside. But now it can be used to build the road itself. A Scotland based company called MacRebur takes plastic waste, processes it into millions of tiny pellets and uses them to make asphalt, which is primarily used in road construction. According to the company, these roads are cheaper to make, less prone to pot-holes and more eco-friendly. Along with providing sturdy roads, the initiative solves the problem of growing plastic pollution and putting the non-biodegradable plastic to some productive use instead of just lying around adding to the existing environmental crisis.
https://www.facebook.com/OurPlanetbyattn/videos/161588281337277/
