We Need To Re-mold the Perception of Plastic: It’s Down to Designers To Do It

By: James Melia

Conversations around sustainability are high on the agenda, not just for brands and businesses but for the public too. Since the world has become increasingly conscious of its carbon and our climate footprint, the perception of plastic has become resoundingly negative. Most people understand the environmental necessity to change wasteful behaviors—consume less, reuse more, and recycle—but has plastic been miscast as sustainability’s no.1 villain?

Perhaps not. When it takes somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 years to fully decompose—if it does at all—then it’s best to look at all of the sustainable and plastic-free material alternatives available to designers. But plastics can also play a role in generating more refillable or reusable solutions for brands.