We want your help expanding Insider's videos about the environment, climate change, and sustainability. Tell us your thoughts in this 2-3 minute survey: bit.ly/InsiderWWWsurvey Thanks so much!
The only solution is regulating who buys the oil, at what price and for what use. If a disposable plastic bag sells at $1, people start buying algae bags. And regulating organization can fund and subsidize seaweed entrepreneurs with the rest of the money.
"We're not asking individuals to make those choices, we're asking the corporations and the brand most responsible for producing waste to switch to our material." Aaahh..music to the ears! Love that
No kidding one of the biggest reasons there is so much waste is companies force the responsibility on the consumer. That was the corporations plan from the beginning especially when plastic recycling became a thing.
Ask for food and you get an tomatoe full of chemicals because thats how they grow em chemicals. Ask for glass milk jugs nope 🙅🏻. Just so you know i found a store that did sell milk in glass and wow that tasted good but after a couple months it was gone forever because it wasn't a popular item. Them oh its $5 for half gallon. Yes but if you bring the empty bottle back it takes $2 off the next one. Them no to much work where's the plastic jugs.
Yes! As soon as I heard that they gained all my respect. I remember getting side eyed at friends for saying plastic straws are the least of our problems when it comes to ocean polluting. That big companies are doing the most damage and they're shifting the blame to us. Of course we can and should all do our part but companies need to start doing their part for us to see an actual change
Yes so true! Often times consumers have no choice or cannot afford it but if bigger corporations (who are mostly responsible for water waste, destroying natural habitats etc) were to take responsibility this can be really great ❤️
Solving the problem of plastics is so huge, but every time one of these stories is done, scientists have progressed further and further into making viable sustainable or regenerative alternatives. I’m so hopeful!
I REALLY hope this works and catches on. Microplastics are everywhere now. In the ocean, our drinking water, our food and in our bodies right now. I'm of the opinion that in a decade or two it will be discovered just how bad plastics really are to our health. I hope that before then we can be phasing out plastic use with something like this.
We don't need two decades to know that, we already do. What they're doing to circumvent that is constantly inventing new plastics so they can say "well you don't have any proof its harmful." Which shifts reasonability to consumers and all the different types of plastics make it harder for us to make protocols to break them down since they're so diverse.
Truly amazing technology. They are taking the right path to actually achieve results too by not asking consumers to choose it and making it as similar to the amazing properties of plastic as possible.
Would be nice if governments could FORCE all fast food outlets to use these for thier packaging, & replace the plastic forks too....Use Cardboard boxes with no plastic lining....Maybe even Seaweed Plastic Single use Cups!
😮 *AMAZING* 👏 ... *Hope this will be successful... hope many enterprises, government & people will look on to it or implement on pro-environmental ways to drastically minimize plastic waste...*
Life changing 🙌🏼 We NEED to fix our food packaging immediately. It’s literally impossible to buy food plastic free, at least where I live and they’re not recyclable either.
"ultra cheap plastic" is going to not be ultra cheap once you force companies to have to responsibly recycle/dispose of them. It'll then make the sea weed version cheaper by default
This is such a brilliant idea! I really love this! Hope big industries like P&G can take over this idea and spread it to their companies. Much faster way considering the number of companies they have under their umbrella. Big thanks to the scientists and farmers doing this!
Hope that your start up company could start commercial production of plastic sheets out of seaweeds early 2023!!! Our country, the Philippines could be considered to be one of your supplier of seaweeds!!!
Sadly we will never escape plastic. I must say though that in New Jersey, it's really nice not having a million plastic bags as ornaments in the trees. 😁
Solving a propblem so big can seem impossible, espessaly when we're surrounded by it on a daily basis, but the thing is that we as a species follow and lead by ecsample, so if just ONE big company is willing to make the chance and indvest in this future, the others will follow suite. I'm positive that this will mak a change, good luck!
@@JasonMomos So many benefits. Rich in protein, amino acids, iron and spirulina contains b-12. I'm plant based since 1990 so been taking them for years.
I think this has a lot more potential than most of the "environmentally friendly" products you have featured. I assume it's only suitable for dry applications (basically any biodegradeable plastic replacement is, because if it was highly water-repellant, it would also repell microbes), but that's still a lot of applications. and there are many countries with bad enough waste management (which realistically means a lack of trash-fired powerplants) that making packaging biodegradeable helps a lot.
From what I see this won't be viable for products that need to stay packed for long periods. Not every pair of jeans will be sold within 48 days. Where I do see this to be viable is as a replacement material for bubble wrap, cling wrap, maybe some adhesive tape and, if they're strong enough, shopping bags.
@@jrac-gl3ku where are you getting 48 days from? From the video explaining that in the right decomposition conditions, it will be completely gone in 48 days? How does that have any impact whatsoever on how long it lasts in a store? The jeans will be broken down & metal on them rusted & generally unwearable after 4 months in an industrial compost bin too, yet they'll last decades stored properly in a store or closet. This plastic is the same
Its the way we circle our lives, food is from far away, not picked up fresh, clothes are made across the ocean, water from free natural springs never reaches the community it comes from, or you have to buy it as no longer living water. Thats the 'innovation' that needs to happen, this is a very strenuous bandaid. We did not use plastic before, but as plantbased tool for us to use sometimes, thats awesome!!
The tech is available, the roadblock is huge corporations like Coca Cola, Unilever et al greenwashing and not fixing their packaging, greed is the issue not the lack of tech.
aside from the greed , it needs to happens .as long as competiton doesnt lose sight of the end goal to make safer alternative to plastic and stifle innovation in the name of who gets the money for said product .either way there are many companies around the world using alternative methods for producing product to move into the future the next generation will benefit...as we currently do from our founding fathers and mothers desicions
um the end goal IS profit for their company! This is why climate change is still a thing, it profit wasn't a factor, we would have reversed it completely decades ago, we absolutely have the tech & knowledge to do it, but it's not done, cause of profit hunting
My concern is allergies. If this will be used to wrap food or anything you consume or that touches your body, the grain based ingredients they mentioned are a problem. Those ingredients, especially wheat, should have to be disclosed on the packaging. Gluten is a very “sticky” molecule and just coming in contact, even in minor amounts, can cause contamination. Using it for clothes and other similar uses is a brilliant idea. Other than that this is a fantastic idea and I’m glad to see this kind of innovation.
I am so blown away by these types of leaps into the future. There has been so many ideas that have been found using the ocean vegetation, creatures and insects lately. I'm really hopeful for the next generation to continue to conquer these high issues. I'm sure there is going to be issues if it's used too much because we don't have a history on it. But I hope this is a way better option than plastics The key imo is finding a way to prevent the seaweed plastic here a liquid barrier
Seaweed is indeed versatile in many ways. If it can help reduce the amount of plastic floating around, then they should move forward with this whole concept.
That's a very nice idea of producing packaging from seaweed. They are crucial for life as " Green Packaging" which contribute as eco friendly to our biodiversity convention. Love it overall : )
More power and God Bless. I do hope that we can use and market your product in the future to save the environment. And I do hope that it can come and be produced here in the Philippines as soon as possible.
So I just did a paper on bio plastics and it’s gets me excited. But every time I hear about bio plastics in the news, it’s the same thing. It could be YEARS before this is manufactured on large enough scales
I think most of us here would agree, id be perfectly willing to pay a little more to cover the costs of offsetting emissions, instead of paying more to give executives a raise.
If recycled with other plastic it contaminates the batch and it all has to ve thrown out. There are a lot more questions than answers in a story Luke this.
After all waste becomes bio-degradable, it would make the rubbish sorting super easy and council can reduce its spending on recycling and the process also better for environment.
4:21 "We're not asking individuals to make those choices, we're asking the coorporations and the brand who are most responsible for producing waste" - It's still our habits of consumption fostering this and still a waste of resources if you produce unnecessary single-use items like grocery bags (esp. when not based on renewable energy). *Nevertheless it's a fantastic prospect and I'm pretty excited.
I love this... This question to "can they compete to..." I think if we really implement it like force everyone to it, the price can be regulated or adjust. Think about it, its good for the environment.
Omnomnom! Packaging! If we're just making clothes to be worn in one season and thrown away anyway, can we design something out of plant waste to be worn fir a season and break down? Can we make seaweed thread instead of polyester to hold together cheap cotton clothing?
@@ndb_1982 actually no. He's absolutely right. In the US and other Developed countries people are really into consumerism and fast fashion and some people wear clothes one season or even once and then throw them away. Search for clothes problem documentaries and you'll see how big of a problem this is.
