“Tackling the Plastic Crisis: How I Fight for a Plastic-Free Future for Our Children”

In my free time, I deeply enjoy taking my family on camping and hiking outings. I have always loved being in nature with loved ones, and as my children grow up, I can’t help but feel deep concern over the ever increasing amount of plastic pollution we see whenever we go on a trip. Thus I have dedicated myself to curbing plastic pollution by co-founding Biotic, a company producing fully biodegradable PHBV polymers to be substituted into fossil based plastic products.

My concern for this issue stems not only from my role as a CEO, but more importantly as a parent. The big and small plastic pieces in the sea and nature not only impacts the animals living in it (Plastic waste is one of the primary factors responsible for mortality of marine animals), but travels throughout the food chain and makes its way into human bodies. Mismanaged plastic waste is broken down by the sun and ocean waves to become smaller and smaller, but never to disappear. They become what is called micro and nanoplastics, and these tiny pieces transport chemical contaminants and heavy metals, impacting soil fertility and disrupting the nutrient on land. The reality for human health is staggering. Microplastics have been found, among other places, in human blood, breast milk, and penile tissue. The damage caused to cells in the human body could lead to serious health effects including cancers, lung disease, and birth defects. Toxic additives in plastics can alter hormone activity which disrupts reproduction, growth, and cognitive function.

The eyesores of plastic pollution, the impact on waterways, the threats to wildlife, all of these features of the plastic crisis are disturbing to say the least. But the full extent of the problem is much greater. How could we even capture the true cost of this crisis wherein the toxins have literally become a part of us? I am doing everything in my power to create a future in which my children, and their children, and their children’s children for that matter, can have carefree beach days and plastic-free bodies.

We need a radical shift in how we produce and consume plastic, and Biotic is making this a reality. Imagine the positive impact to follow if the plastic products we use fully biodegrade at the end of life. Join us and let’s make plastic pollution, and the accumulating health impacts on people and the planet, a problem of the past.