June 24, 2022
In twentieth-first century, consumer-driven society, single-use plastic has become ubiquitous in nearly every aspect of daily life; it packages our food, our water, our clothes, our toiletries, our cleaning products- the list goes on. Plastic is such a convenient resource for consumers and manufacturers alike that purging it from the industry enough to assuage its environmental devastation seems an almost insurmountable task. In recent years, scientists have been exploring other solutions to the plastic crisis, including the development of highly biodegradable replacements, such as the algal product created by Margarita Talep. Talep is a Chilean designer whose product is made by boiling agar, a polysaccharide derived from red algae. This bioplastic can be set in the same shapes as typical plastic packaging and colored using natural dyes. As someone who is interested both in biochemical engineering and reducing my personal plastic consumption, pioneers like Talep are profoundly inspirational to me and give me hope for a healthier, happier future on this planet.
https://www.dezeen.com/2019/01/18/margarita-talep-algae-bioplastic-packaging-design/
