A SHORTER USE, A LONGER MESS:
Belonging to a city that’s population has surpassed a whooping figure of 200 million yet still thriving and is one of the largest metropolitan cities of the world, yes you guessed just right I am addressing Karachi — the city of lights and the city of our beloved Quaid Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Nowadays the city is stuck in a new obsession that is craving for new FOOD. In the past ten years Karachi’s food industry hit a new mark from lavish continental fine dines to ‘desi dhabas’ , from fast food international chains to home based online food ventures everything is accessible and is just a touch away.
Where all this growth is giving employment to thousands of individuals this market is harming the environment in the most ruthless manner, how so? Let me give you all a hint! Which material cutlery is given to you when you get your food parceled or home delivered? Which material cutlery you carry to picnics…that is right plastics, single use plastics.
There have been many initiatives taken worldwide but not much in Pakistan as it is considered a secondary issue here, why should we care about it? because a single gram of sand at Karachi seashore accommodates 300 plus plastic particles which we are consuming in the form of seafood. So, the solution is to introduce homemade, edible, biodegradable cutlery to give layman an alternative to switch to after abandoning single use plastics. Researches shows that people in UK were ready to pay more to avoid plastic use but that is not the case in Pakistan, after communicating with the food vendors some were ready to give it a try to buy the biodegradable cutlery but at lower costs than plastics which is a hard task as they are made from food items as well as home made. But still I did not loose any hope and try to take matter into my own hands and applying the rule of Amal I wanted to give this idea a try so I made the cutlery by myself. Below is the picture attached:
The result is not up to the mark in terms of shape but the product is durable enough for a single use as well as edible. The holistic approach can get better with multiple trials and the hope is still there for the betterment.
