Solving the Plastic Crisis with Seaweed

Some companies are looking to the ocean to save the future. This one wants to use seaweed to combat against the plastic problems we are facing. Their products will be 100% biodegradable containers for food, some that will actually be edible, too!

Watch the video and then do the accompanying English language exercises on our website.

The news is a consistent source of entertainment, knowledge and discovery that never ceases to exist and always comes out with more and more material each day. Because it plays such a vital part in our lives and is so important to keep up with, it is without a doubt a piece of your everyday routine that can’t go ignored.

Whether it is to understand the ramifications of recent legislation passed, to hear about recent events and grasp the potential consequences to your country, or simply hear about what is happening in other countries in order to compare them to what’s happening in yours, the news is certainly a staple in our lives and the most consistent way to get information.

This is why Scrambled Eggs has decided to unite two of your biggest worlds: learning English and keeping up with what is happening in the world. We hope our challenging daily exercises, composed of listening, vocabulary and comprehension exercises in English, will satisfy both of those above worlds in a satisfactory and also entertaining way.

So enough about introductions, let’s get to today’s Learn English with the News topic:

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And that’s it for today’s English lesson, where you can improve your English with the news and current events. Do you have any comments or special requests for us for the next edition of Learn English with the News? Be sure to leave any feedback you have in the comments section below, as we would love to help you on your quest to learn the English language!

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Full text:

Imagine being able to eat the packaging that contains your food.

Notpla, a London-based startup, is designing a seaweed-based replacement for single-use plastic packaging. They see seaweed as the solution to the world’s plastic problem because it is abundant, grows quickly, doesn’t compete with land crops, sequesters carbon from the air, and doesn’t need pesticides.

Most of Notpla’s products are meant to be composted or dissolved after use. Some, however, are edible: things like sachets for condiments, water and even alcohol. Others, like takeaway boxes that replace plastic-based coating with seaweed lining are fully biodegradable, but not edible.

Their design director says they see nature as an inspiration for perfect packaging, like the skin on a fruit. Eventually, it becomes part of the natural cycle.

According to the UN, 331 million tons of plastic waste are produced globally each year. Sometimes these end up as microplastics—tiny particles resulting from larger plastics breaking down—which pollute the water, air and our bodies.

While they don’t think seaweed is the solution to every problem, they do believe that it is a step in the right direction to how we use plastic. In 2021, they tested 30,000 takeaway boxes in UK restaurants in collaboration with Just Eat, and plans are underway to offer the boxes around Europe in 2022.