Biodegradable plastic bags for real

Published on October 27, 2005 By Rajiv Badlani In Business

These words have been bandied about so much that recyclable, ecofriendly, biodegradable and other such reassuring terms have lost meaning. I earlier wrote a blog about one of the worst instances of this obfuscation. http://badlani.com/blog/weblog.php?id=30 The Indian Express, a hugely influential newspaper with a massive circulation published a story that actually said ““NO NEED to kick this plastic habit” They were talking about a technique developed at ATIRA to make plastic bags photodegradable. Which means it would break down with exposure to light and become a fine powder that would mix with the soil and invisibly poison all of us. I wrote to the Indian Express and called the scientist. No reply. When scientists and major newspapers make such irresponsible statements pronouncing a noxious and dangerous substance safe just because it can’t be seen, you see what I mean. But today I read about what appears to be a genuine biodegradable plastic bag being made in Vasai by a guy called Perses Bilimoria, who’s making plastics from starch and cottonseeds, according to an article in Cybernoon.

I’m going to write to Perses today and try and see if we can find a way to work together to reduce the amount of plastic we pile up on our heads every day like lemmings. Meanwhile, our fabric bags continue to be one way to avoid poisoning the earth. See them at www.badlani.com/bags/

Comments

KarmaGirl

on Oct 27, 2005

Please quit posting these to the forums. We are not going to be free advertising for your bags. You can post them to your blog, but not to the forums. Any additional ones posted to the forums will be deleted when seen.

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