Plastics is one another source of non-renewable resources. It is a most common rubbish item which causes various bad impacts on the environment. Plastic pollution adversely affecting wildlife, wildlife habitat, or humans. Even after the partial or complete ban on plastic bags in India, some people are frequently using theses plastic bags to carry eggs, vegetables, and general products. And after use, they throw it out. Then those plastic bags get ingests by animals. This lead to very slow and painful death of them.
Even after the partial or complete ban on plastic bags in India, some people are frequently using theses plastic bags to carry eggs, vegetables, and general products. And after use, they throw it out. Then those plastic bags get ingests by animals. This lead to very slow and painful death of them.
And after use, they throw it outside. Then those plastic bags get ingests by animals that lead to very slow and painful death of them.
To reduce this bad impacts, Ashwath Hegde, created a 100% organic, biodegradable, and eco-friendly bags. Â Ashwath Hegde is a Mangalore-born, Qatar-based NRI entrepreneur.
The bags that he created exactly looks similar to plastic bags. These plastic bags are made up of natural starch and vegetable oil derivatives.
If they are placed in a glass of water under normal temperature for a day, they will dissolve. And if they are placed inside boiled water, they takes only 15 seconds to get dissolve.
These bags take less than 180 days to biodegrade naturally once discarded. So, now, you don’t need to worry anymore if you are throwing out this plastic bags.
Ashwath said, “The Mangalore City Corporation implemented a ban on the manufacture, sale, and distribution of plastic bags in the year 2012. But the decision was taken without preparations for alternatives. People were concerned about how they would carry products from the market now. Everyone cannot afford a bag worth Rs. 5 or Rs. 15 to carry a kilogram of sugar. So, I decided to come up with alternatives after hearing about these problems in my hometown.”
After researching the problem for about four years, Ashwath founded EnviGreen. EnviGreen is a company that produces this plastic bags. The company uses 12 ingredients, including potato, tapioca, corn, natural starch, vegetable oil, banana, and flower oil. Primarily, all these material transformed into liquid form. Then they are taken through a six-step procedure before the end product is ready.
He said, “We don’t use any chemicals at all. Even the paint used for printing on the bags is natural and organic. The cost of one EnviGreen bag is about 35% more than that of a plastic bag, but 500% less than that of a cloth bag. To give you a rough idea, an EnviGreen bag measuring 13 inches by 16 inches costs Rs. 3, while a plastic bag with the same dimensions will cost Rs. 2.”
These eco-friendly plastic bags neither melts nor sticks to the hot iron surface. The bags also don’t melt, drip, or release any toxic fumes when burnt, unlike conventional plastic bags.Â
Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) conducted several tests to ensure there were no plastic elements in bags. Now, they have approved the use of these bags .
He said, “We had this unique idea of empowering farmers in rural Karnataka by sourcing all our raw materials from them. We are also planning to distribute seeds to help them produce the amount of materials required to make the bags.”