They look like plastic bags but are made of materials like natural starch and vegetable oil derivatives. If placed in a glass of water at normal temperature, an EnviGreen bag dissolves in a day. And when placed in a glass of boiling water, it dissolved in just 15 seconds! These bags take less than 180 days to biodegrade naturally once discarded. So users can throw them away without worrying about harming the environment. The bags are even edible and will cause no harm to animals if ingested.
Ashwath, who has patented EnviGreen, claims the manufacturing process for these bags is entirely different from that of plastic, cloth, or paper bags. The company uses 12 ingredients, including potato, tapioca, corn, natural starch, vegetable oil, banana, and flower oil.
“We don’t use any chemicals at all. Even the paint used for printing on the bags is natural and organic,” says Ashwath. He adds that the cost of one EnviGreen bag is about 35% more than that of a plastic bag, but 500% less than that of a cloth bag. “To give you a rough idea, an EnviGreen bag measuring 13 inches by 16 inches costs Rs. 3, while a plastic bag with the same dimensions will cost Rs. 2”.
