Students Create a Solution to Reduce Plastic
As you may know, about 20 million tons of plastic end up in the sea, killing sea mammals such as turtles, dolphins, whales, etc. Scientists predict that plastic will soon outnumber the fish in our oceans and will cause the extinction of many sea creatures in the future.
Mexican Students Make Plastic From Avocado Seeds!
Luckily, Mexican students have discovered a solution to make plastic out of biodegradable avocado seeds! Chemical engineering students from the Michoacán University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo have recently developed a bioplastic from the avocado seed that can be used to make disposable products or surgical materials. This material can be very useful for making disposable containers, such as coffee cups because it resists hot liquids and biodegrades in only 300 days. Also, it has the potential for the development of medical devices because it is compatible with the human body.
College students Perla Castro García, Ana López Hernández and Paloma Escobedo León received the first-place award in this scientific contest sponsored by the Mexican Academy of Research and Teaching in Chemical Engineering during its national convention.
Advantages of Avocado-Made Plastic
A native of Uruapan, Michoacán, chemical engineering student Castro García explained that Uruapan is the top city in the world for the production of avocados, but he observed that much of the avocado residue is wasted, especially the hard seed. This started his interest to find alternatives uses.
Castro and his colleagues developed a method to obtain a starch biofilm through sonification (exposure to sound) of the avocado seeds. So, this new material can replace plastic in the manufacture of straws, bags, plates and disposable cups. And the best thing of all – the avocado-made plastic dissolves in just 300 days, which gives room for it to be marketed without pollution.
The substitution of plastic with avocado-made materials will benefit the environment and become an extra resource for avocado producers in Mexico.
You Can Help Our Environment!
So remember to help save our environment by NOT asking for plastic straws or any other plastic materials! If we all work together, we can still save our sea mammals and our environment.
