Can We Turn Off the Plastic Tap?

Entrepreneur turned sustainability crusader Sian Sutherland thinks we can and should be tackling the plastic crisis head-on. Six years ago, she set up her business, A Plastic Planet, to find ways to bring about solutions and change via innovative campaigns that would create awareness in the media and business worlds. Successful campaigns include the removal of plastic food sachets and currently, A Plastic Planet are lobbying the government to remove plastic from fashion and packaging; mainstream clients also include Unilever and Nestle. 

It’s interesting to hear Sutherland say that she believes that plastic was the gateway to the climate crisis, and that we’ve continuously misunderstood a material that should really have been used only for certain circumstances and that by applying it so freely, we are affecting the health of nature and humans alike. 

Sain had her own epiphany moment when she realised she could use her passion and persuasiveness as a force for good. This year her ethos has grown with the addition of PlasticFree, a model which funds creative solutions to remove plastic at source, creating a raft of new materials, methods and solutions – all of them plastic-free right from the inception of design and made from materials that fit into nature’s nutrient cycle.

This ambitious project is forward-thinking and relevant, using the design brains of today to create a road map away from plastic, as well as continuously inspiring and informing. PlasticFree’s Creative and Science Council includes heavyweight thinkers who want to do their bit, including Thomas Heatherwick, Sir David Chipperfield and Tom Dixon, among other notables.

One of the current challenges PlasticFree faces and is addressing is the hyper-consumption of single-use plastic and its deeply embedded culture, which is slowly changing. Using their ethos to constantly ‘inspire and inform’, just taking a look at their website fills one with hope with a plethora of neat and clever ideas such as natural sportswear dyed with plants, plastic-free razors and a raft of new materials that use wool, grass or seaweed instead of plastic. It is easy to see the path away from plastic becoming obstacle-free.

This year will see PlasticFree have a presence at prominent design events such as New York Design Week and London Design Biennale, hoping to catch designers wanting to make a change and thereby supercharge PlasticFree’s community. And with PlasticFree’s goal of eradicating one trillion pieces of plastic waste from the global economy by 2025 alongside the rousing call to action to ‘Create What’s Next’ we can see this change-making platform gathering huge momentum.