Learning About The Barest Necessities to Solve the Plastic Waste Crisis

More than 330 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide every year. Significantly, over 90% of plastics are not recycled which pollutes our environment in a multitude of ways. Within India, more than 25,940 tons of plastic are produced every day. This is the same weight as 9000 Asian elephants or 86 Boeing 747’s, notably, half of this comes from the major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. Poignantly, plastic consumption is increasing- the plastic processing industry within India is estimated to grow to 22 million tonnes a year by 2020 from 13.4 million tonnes in 2015, nearly half of this is single-use plastic.

The situation is dire because products that we use on a daily basis are packaged in plastic and loaded with chemicals. It contributes to the largest global garbage crisis of our lifetime, which results in long term environmental damage. Fortunately, on a global scale, there are already systems in place such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which “are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. The goals are interconnected and in order to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve each Goal and target by 2030”.

Bare Necessities- Zero Waste India, a Bangalore based startup which throughout July focused on the #PlasticFreeJuly campaign, promotes adoption of zero waste practices, circular economy methodology and sustainability to consumers and businesses throughout India and further abroad. The employees have a variety of backgrounds and embrace the philosophy of the company to a greater extent now than when they began because they now understand why the waste crisis is everyone’s responsibility to resolve.

For example, take the manufacturing team, a small group of four women all of whom have different education levels, completing up to 4th, 7th, 10th and 11th grade at school. They all live in different locations, in different communities. They have different levels of work experience too and their access to the knowledge in the facts and figures above is limited. However, when spoken to, they highlighted that when they were made aware, educated and provided with the opportunity to keep learning, they have found solutions to their own problems, in each community where they live. Many simple steps can lead us to one large change. Whether that is not using a plastic straw, or not using a single-use coffee cup, they all add up. They’ll help to achieve the goals of startups such as Bare Necessities who have made a tremendous impact on the four women, and many others besides.

Similarly two interns- one from India and one from England- who worked at Bare Necessities during June and July pointed out that solutions to the plastic waste crisis could be found by thinking about simple ideas and where they could be implemented to see results, ‘within Indian communities segregation is key on the outskirts of the city where I live’... ‘When I travel around the country there are limited options to recycle in hostels and other locations where I have stayed’ and that ‘people know about the problem’...‘My family and friends are embracing composting and have steel bottles for water now’... ‘There are solutions that are being embraced.’ Positive steps are being made because more and more people are noticing the problems and want to do something about it. The big questions are how much it is being embraced and by how many people. An important thing to remember is that it should not be viewed as an automatic overnight change, instead it is a longer-term transition, an evolution it could be said, to more sustainable practices.

Whether this evolution toward a plastic-free lifestyle has to start with “shopkeepers and vendors fear(ing) a hefty fine from inspectors who are tasked with keeping (Mumbai) free of plastic bags”. Or, as members of the Bare Necessities Operations Team puts it ‘education at all socioeconomic areas (in India) is key to changing consumer habits... The middle and lower class population in India is not spoken to regularly, they have a high population but are not educated enough. This needs to change to see results.’ These are two of many simple methods that are being practiced on a daily basis. 

A root cause of the issue is broadly encapsulated as, ‘the problem is the overall consumerism that we've accustomed ourselves to. Our definition of 'convenience' has taken a very big toll on not only the environment but also health!’ Therefore, whether pointing out and policing or educating about the topic simple solutions work in changing habits. Both methods have produced positive differences. As a country India is at a crossroads, there are now two overarching ways to progress, either become waste managers like countries in Europe and North America are or re- imagine the waste problem. Re-imagining, as discussed in the paragraph below has begun already. Products are created with sustainable integrity in the materials used and the supply chain must operate within a circular economy. This can start by implementing better policies that make a just transition possible. This process will promote new sustainable designs to help minimise waste throughout the country.

There is a growing focus globally on designing new solutions to products that are currently used in all of our consumer-driven lives that work using circular economy methodology. Examples can be seen with biodegradable bags in India, in Mexico where a company is transforming avocado pits into disposable bioplastic straws and cutlery, and in Indonesia where the root vegetable cassava is used to create biodegradable bags. By designing new products, along with minimising single-use items, correctly disposing of used products in the right categories and limiting the amount of non- organic material used on a day to day basis, creating a zero waste environment is being achieved.

Bare Necessities, similarly, has always brought creativity, education and innovation to the minds of consumers and stakeholders in India and further afield about zero waste practices. The Creative Head of the social business highlights that the types of methods we use in creating awareness about plastic waste is paramount to success. Whether that is finding the exact amount of light needed for a picture of a zero waste product from her camera or if it is achieved through an educational scheme where kids pay for their school fees by bringing in plastic waste, both are fine examples of what can be done. 

By educating people in the right manner and getting the who, where, what, when and why right more people will likely get on board to manage the problem. We all know that there is a lot of plastic waste and that it is an issue. It is a problem that has increased in ferocity in a relatively short period of time. We can make it a spike instead of a straight line trend by finding both simple tried and trusted solutions and new innovations. The Bangalore based startup continues to create, educate and encourage people to become involved by showing their audience what can be achieved instead of forcing each individual to convert. This can be mirrored and needs to be, by many other organisations across the globe.

To assist all stakeholders who need to get on board to find solutions to the crisis, such as social enterprises in India- a key backbone of the Indian economy, who are helping reimagine a just, greener, more socially conscious world- the SDGs can be used to help develop solutions, maintain focus and assist in creating a blueprint for the path forward. The template is here, it will help to achieve the goals of startups such as Bare Necessities who have made tremendous impact. It will help elephants be elephants instead of a way to quantify the amount of plastic produced in a day. It will help us have a plastic free life, not just a plastic free July. It will help us become more sustainable. It will help the rest of the environment flourish. It will help reduce worldwide plastic, and, according to the team at Bare Necessities, it can start if you speak to a friend about this issue today.

Bare Necessities team that was interviewed:
Asiya Banu- Head of Manufacturing
Shabreen Taj- Manufacturing and Operations Assistant
Reshma Banu- Manufacturing Assistant
Najma Khatoon- Manufacturing Assistant
Prakash P.- Operations Manager
Alana Redick- Impact Assessment Intern
Nehaarika Prakash- Marketing Intern
Mouli Paul- Creative Head
Sonal Jain- Business and Finance Advisor