Activists engaged in removing trash from beaches have reported that a huge quantity of used surgical masks are finding their way to rivers and sea.
They have now found novel ways to tackle the issue. One organisation doing so is Paper Seed Co, a social enterprise located at Pakshikere on the outskirts of Mangaluru.
“Masks which are meant to protect humans are also causing damage to environment and marine ecology,” said 36-year-old Nitin Vas, founder of Paper Seed Co.
“In order to minimise the threat posed by these masks, which are plastic fibers, we decided to launch eco-friendly face masks that will grow into plants when discarded,” Vas said.
Paper Seed Co has developed the expertise of making paper embedded with plant seeds since 2017.
They began experimenting with masks when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.
“The masks are made using recycled rags and inner linings are made from cotton cloth. It is thick enough to give protection to users,” he said.
The outer layer is embedded with seeds of tomato and basil (tulasi). Though made from cotton, the masks are single-use only. When disposed of in soil, the seeds sprout under ideal conditions.
“We are planning to embed passion fruit seeds in future, so that even when thrown in public places, they grow into fruit-bearing plants,” Vas said.
Though a Dutch firm and another venture in Uttarakhand are also into selling face-mask-seed papers, Paper Seed’s face masks have made a huge impact online.
“Each mask is priced at Rs 25, as emphasis is on the disposal after single use. Its compostability is the core-feature of the product,” said Vas, who is also an artist.
Paper Seed has manufactured around 500 such masks. These masks were ordered by a few NGOs working for the conservation of the environment in Chennai, Bengaluru, Udupi and other places.
“If the demand increases, a batch of locals will be trained to make the eco-friendly masks,” he said.
Paper Seed village
Paper Seed’s previous popular innovations include Mangaluru toys, modelled on the lines of Channapatna toys. The hand-made toys saw good demand and were sent to the US and Chennai. Paper Seed had launched eco-friendly rakhis with seeds of tomato, cucumber, capsicum, tulsi, etc. embedded into them for Raksha Bandhan. Vas dreams of building a Paper Seed village with a bigger workshop.