We tend to spend hours on end scrolling through our Tik tok feed on our phones without a thought other than to get to the next trend. While mobile apps and technology are increasingly becoming more entertaining, we need to take into account that we can use our mobile phones and computers for something bigger than entertainment. It’s an uphill climb for many of us, especially as a nation but the best avenue that would enable us to achieve this would be to copy from our neighbours and find a bit of inspiration.

Last week we spoke on the advances in waste management in Rwanda most especially because it is one of the top African countries that has made major head waves in achieving this. If you ignore the collective responsibility alone that the communities in Rwanda have taken on, it would be unfair to ignore the innovations that have been created to support the grand cause. One such innovation can be seen with CareMe Bioplastics.

Bioplastics are plastic materials that come from renewable or natural sources such as plants, animals or microorganisms. They can be biodegradable, meaning they can be broken down by microorganisms, or nonbiodegradable, meaning they are durable and similar to conventional plastics. Bioplastics are different from fossil-fuel plastics which are derived from petroleum or natural gas. CareMe Bioplastics is an organisation involved in the collection and recycling of plastic, using a mobile app to collect the plastics from the end-users and process the collected plastics into the school desks, and both indoor and outdoor furniture hence turning the plastics wastes into valuable items and cutting down the rate of deforestation. If that is not impressive, then we do not know what is.

The rewards continue, users of the app are allowed to earn money from their waste. I know we might be wondering how this is even possible, but CareMe Bioplastics has devised a way that users can either earn money or have house furniture made place yet even more responsibility in the community for their plastic waste. After its collection, CareMe Bioplastics molds those single-use plastic wastes into valuable items that last for decades. I can’t help but wonder that if this is a possibility with plastics, what else are we capable of doing with our other waste? As I mentioned before, sometimes it simply requires us to join hands and work together. Let’s pick a big leaf from our neighbour Rwanda.

RECYCLING FACT: Only 9 %of all plastic ever produced has actually been recycled.

PATHWATER