Flower Power
When using reusable materials isn’t an option hemp bioplastics combined with small non-toxic flower seeds are our best solution to reducing waste.
I’ve been thinking about starting a bioplastic based business which makes everything from truly disposable drinking straws to every utensil typically used once. Environmentally friendly hemp bioplastic utensils made in small batches for people and big ones for restaurants. By mixing non-toxic seeds into the plastic the straws would produce flowers after the plastic decomposes. In the right conditions hemp bioplastic can completely decompose within 3–6 months. So these products may have a shelf-life but that’s only a selling point, not a con.
Hemp bioplastics, even ones 100% bio-based, are incredibly strong. Their decomposition rate has more to do with their environment and what they’re turned into than anything. Most of the bioplastic products I’ve seen offered aren’t 100% bio-based which is likely so they don’t break down as quickly. And none of them feature seeds for plants embedded in the plastic. I feel that’s the equivalent of being a vegetarian, not a vegan. Or driving a hybrid instead of going fully electric. It’s neat but if folks really care about what they’re doing they shouldn’t stop at the halfway mark. It’s 2019 and we can go all the way without changing hardly any part of our lives due to the wide variety of accessible options.
In the case of utensils made from 100% bioplastic there’d potentially (not necessarily) be a shelf life on them which could be seen as a con unless the supply was managed to always meet and never exceed demand. This would still come with similar margins. Smaller orders more frequently rather than big ones every now and then would work. Packaging and shipping rates might be slightly different but both the USPS and UPS offer relatively low fixed rates to businesses so if it got to the point where it was problem on a national level I imagine there’d be simple solutions.
Imagine grabbing a bottle of sparkling water knowing that after you’re done with it flowers will blossom from what would’ve otherwise been waste. This concept would be a dream come true for the marketing teams at the businesses which adapt it into their production. Being able to show the lifecycle of a plastic bottle which starts in the hand of a consumer and then ends by producing flowers almost sounds too good to be true. But it’s not only completely possible; it’s also affordable. Over half a ton of 100% hemp based bioplastic is less than $3,500 and could produce about 500,000 drinking straws. Coca-Cola’s polar bear would be the happiest it has ever been.
