At Solubag, we make 100% water-soluble bags, meaning that they fully dissolve in water. Why should you care? By 2050, it is expected that the mass of plastic that plagues are ocean will be greater than that of fish. Although this sounds alarming, it shouldn't come as a surprise because, globally, an estimated 380 million metric tons of plastic are produced on a yearly basis. That's equivalent to the weight of over 4 billion Loggerhead Sea turtles!
A sea turtle eating a plastic bag. Sea turtles confuse plastic bags with jellyfish and an estimated 1,000 die every year from plastic in the ocean. Over 1 million marine animals die each year from plastic pollution.
In response to the never ending exponential growth of plastic production, countries, such as Chile, have passed laws to ban plastic bags altogether. Solubag recognized this opportunity to create a product that would fill the void in this sector and quickly got to work. The result: bags that mimic plastic in appearance and usage, but lack the detrimental environmental effects. These bags are made from the same raw materials as gelatin capsules, which are consumed by people on a daily basis. Don't believe that they don't contain toxic chemicals or pollutants? They don't! You can mix the bag in water and drink it! That's how safe Solubag is! When Solubags break down, they leave behind a harmless amount of carbon, which can be used to water plants.
Solubag has already impacted Chile. Frutisa is a food production company from Chile. They are already using Solubag's patented materials to hold snacks, such as peanuts.
Why not just use reusable bags? What about paper bags? Reusable bags are problematic because they are usually coated in plastic and because the culture in most places hasn't heavily enforced their use. There are many people that commit to the use of reusable bags, but the amount of people that don't, substantially exceed the latter. Sadly, people aren't well informed on the significant carbon footprint that results from producing paper bags. Nearly 14 million trees are cut down every year to satisfy the market demand of paper bags in the United States alone. These are trees that provide us with the air we breathe. Although it might seem like the perfect substitute, it is more of a temporary solution. Paper is still the number one product that we throw away.
"Making paper bags not only adds waste to the world, it kills one of our greatest tools for fighting pollution. Paper bags generate 70 more air pollutants than plastic. They generate 50 times more water pollutants than plastic. It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a plastic bag than it does a paper bag."
Solubags are made using the same machinery that plastic bags use and they do not have the carbon footprint of paper bags. It is time for American consumer to incorporate Solubag into their daily life. It's time for us to make a change.
Images: Shutterstock, Frutisa, TJ Watt (respectively)
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