India has been moving away from plastics for many years and many cities have already issued plastic bag bans. While legislation like this helps to protect our environment and wildlife, a young entrepreneur, Ashwath Hegde, noticed that it was a hardship for many Indians. He eventually landed on a combination of natural starch (from potato and tapioca) and vegetable oils to make a bag that looks and feels just like plastic with none of the negative environmental impacts of a plastic vessel. After researching the problem for about four years, Ashwath founded EnviGreen – a company that produces 100% organic, biodegradable, and eco-friendly bags. EnviGreen's bags will naturally degrade in 180 days and if they are submerged in water they disappear in a day. Oh and also – these bags are edible. This means that when animals encounter non-degraded bags, they can eat them with no adverse effects. If a cow gulps down a carry bag discarded in a field.

The bag is white and looks like plastic. But don't worry about it killing the cow. It actually does – nothing! The partial or total ban on plastic bags in several Indian cities is often lauded as a welcome move by most people. As it should be! But if you ask those who cannot afford alternatives like cloth bags (or forget to bring them to the market) – using just hands to carry eggs and vegetables home can be a juggling act. It was this problem faced by ordinary citizens that disturbed Ashwath Hegde, a Mangalore-born but now Qatar-based NRI entrepreneur.

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, and vegetable oil, banana, and flower oil. All raw materials are first converted into liquid form and then taken through a six-step procedure before the end product is ready. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), which has approved the use of these bags, conducted several tests to ensure there were no plastic elements in them.

The tests included placing a hot iron on a small piece of EnviGreen sheet. The sheet neither melts nor sticks to the hot iron surface. The bags also don't melt, drip, or release any toxic fumes when burnt, unlike conventional plastic bags. They have been tested by the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Sriram Institute for Industrial Research as well.

Source: https://www.thebetterindia.com/77202/envigreen-bags-organic-biodegradable-plastic/