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Showing posts from December, 2019

Rethinking Plastics: Need for Convergence of Materials, Institutions and Formats for Circular Economy

What is the thing that we are surrounded with the most after atmosphere or air we live in? It’s one of the most ubiquitous materials on earth due to its unfathomable uses and almost unchallenged properties. Yes, you guessed it right, its Plastic and I am 100% sure that the device you are using to read this blog is also encased in plastic. Delivering diligently since the start of the last century, its overproduction today and very limited recycling till date have come to haunt us and possibly hinting at an apocalyptic setting in a near future date wiping out the entire humanity. A staggering half of all plastic produced ever is designed for a single use. Packaging industry by far uses the most plastic in the world by weight and almost 10% of total cost from cradle to grave including production, packaging, transportation and recycling, if at all, is occupied by packaging material costs. This is a huge economy in itself and a classic case where the standardizations and prot

Singling out and winning over the single use plastics in my life!!

Like many things complex in life, plastics and particularly single use plastics are a tough nut to crack in firstly how to single them out via a rationale acceptable to majority and then through identifying which ones to easily discard via an easy alternative. The second problem can be solved in a much easier way for an individual and remembered after a one time dossier! The first one is more complex where while experts are still putting their heads together on the definition, I came up with a three point identification tool to alter my lay of the land and challenge the status quo in this area of my life. Wish this is the bucket list of methods I remember by heart and accomplish the outcome to the hilt in 45 days! Discard minimum utility and maximum impact plastic items. Despise plastics which are the most commonly released items into the environment. Chuck out plastic items which have an alternative. Almost all of my friends in the curated social circl