Search This Blog

Friday, 15 March 2019

Designer Creates Algae-Based Alternative For Plastic Packaging That Could Save Our Environment

Truth Theory

It seems like people are becoming more and more aware of plastic products and the threat that they pose to the environment. Plastic is used in and for almost everything as of now, and food packaging is one area where lots of plastic is used. While you might not have noticed it, but if you ever go down the aisle of a supermarket, then you will realize the amount of plastic that is used. It is quite clear that we need to tackle this problem.

A few engineers and scientists, as well as Margarita Talep, a designer, have come to our rescue in this situation. Margarita Talep has been successful in developing an algae-based product which can be a great substitute for plastic food packaging. Packaging, generally, has a short lifecycle. So, Talep planned to develop a kind of material that would be capable of holding food items or any other product but when discarded, it can breakdown easily without accumulating as waste.

Talep uses a gel-like substance called agar, which is sourced from seaweed. This is not a new product. It is quite commonly used as a kind of food thickener. When Talep understood the potential of this gel-like substance, she heated it up to develop a polymer and then she added water to it to act as a plasticizer. For colors, she used natural dyes that were developed from vegetables and fruits like carrots, beets, purple cabbage, and blueberries.

Read more

No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...