This week, I spoke to Santiago Navarro, CEO of Garçon Wines at their HQ in London.
The company, which launched in 2016, has been innovating and designing a vessel made entirely of recycled plastic - even the cap and label.
The bottle isn't only eco considerate when it comes to materials - by making it as light and flat as possible, CO2 emissions are cut considerably. Pretty smart right?
Updating the design of a bottle that has had little advancement over the last two centuries, Santiago and the Garçon Wines team had a task on their hands. Making a bottle fit for the 21st century in terms of environmental impact as well as convinience (the bottle is flat enough to fit through a letterbox, so can be delivered straight to your door!), Santiago explained to me that they were met with people asking 'why' - but his response reveals that there's more to plastic than meets the eye.
"When we started to develop our bottle, one of the first bottles in the world made entirely from recycled material and PET - the good plastic - we were basically met by a lot of people who questioned the need for us to be doing this. Why were we complicating matters when there is so much virgin material out there?"
He was extremely eager to show me how sleek the design of their bottle was, and I was shocked at how light it felt - and was even more excited when I got to take this bottle home with me!
Using plastic as the material for their bottle - a material which, in this current climate, is being scrutinised to the nth degree - he highlighted that plastic itself isn't actually the problem - its the way we respect it. Or rather, how we don't.
"I agree with your position that, to a certain extent, shining a spotlight on the irresponsible use of plastic is part of the problem we have," he said. " Where plastics can be recycled, they should have been recycled for the last decade, they weren’t because most humans take the easy route.
Visibly keen to set the record straight about the misconceptions around plastic (he dubbed it a 'wonder material' , he continued: "There should be a recognition that we should do away with single-use plastics.
He went on to explain that his issues with plastic, as an individual as well as a figure in an eco-friendly business, exceeds the subjects of litter and pollution that is heavily reported on by the media.
"It’s actually about carbon. Because our planet is on fire, and we need to keep as much below ground carbon as we can."
Updating the design of a bottle that has had little advancement over the last two centuries, Santiago and the Garçon Wines team had a task on their hands. Making a bottle fit for the 21st century in terms of environmental impact as well as convenience (the bottle is flat enough to fit through a letterbox, so can be delivered straight to your door!), Santiago explained to me that they were met with people asking 'why' - but his response reveals that there's more to plastic than meets the eye.
Updating the design of a bottle that has had little advancement over the last two centuries, Santiago and the Garçon Wines team had a task on their hands. Making a bottle fit for the 21st century in terms of environmental impact as well as convenience (the bottle is flat enough to fit through a letterbox, so can be delivered straight to your door!), Santiago explained to me that they were met with people asking 'why' - but his response reveals that there's more to plastic than meets the eye.
Listen to the documentary here
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