By 2050 the ocean is expected to have more plastic than fish. This is an awful prediction, one that defines our current situation of greed and overconsumption.
So why, knowing the harmful environmental and health issues related to plastic does the industry keep growing?
In basic terms it’s a numbers game. The world is accustomed to packaging, and at minimal cost. Currently it’s very difficult for companies to keep their margins whilst transitioning to greener and more sustainable alternatives.
Enter Made from Stone (MFS). Taking inspiration from nature itself—mainly the eggshell— Okeanos takes calcium carbonate and creates an almost indistinguishable plastic alternative. It takes the form of the tricky, hard and complex types of plastic—think shampoo bottle, a bag of chips, or a food container in a supermarket.
The main issue with introducing more sustainable products has always been convenience. People need to completely eliminate products from their life because they aren’t “green enough” or are asked to make big changes to their daily life that they may not have the time or money to do.
People and companies rely on this convenience—acknowledging that the ease in which we waltz into a supermarket to buy a pre-packaged salad, or into a pharmacy for a go-to beauty product, won’t change. It would be extremely idealistic to think that the solution is bottom up, that people would simply stop buying these necessities, or top-down, which could kill these industries without a transition period.
Okeanos’ MFS recognizes this, and applying a patented innovation, offers a radical solution. A packaging made from majority calcium carbonate that will decrease the time of degradation from centuries to years, even becoming partly bio-contributing—the product enters the natural cycle returning to stone—at the end of its life. One of the best parts is that it’s competitively priced and is just as convenient as anything else you’re used to buying without the massive negative impact.
As of today, MFS has manufactured products that are up to 70% natural (calcium carbonate) and 30% plastic. However, if companies were to switch to MFS the packaging industry would reduce their overall carbon footprint by 67%!
Of course, the company is still striving to reach that 100% goal, and their innovation team is working hard at it. In the meantime, it offers a very viable, and immediate solution to all the consumer goods companies struggling to make the switch.
The company encourages people of all walks of life to join them in their journey to cleaner oceans, to be empowered with knowledge to educate others and make real change. You can join their mission as a Coral Crew member, head on over and apply on their site.
