PATCH — Zero Waste Bandages

April 15, 2019

bandage

The Zero Waste Movement keeps making moves! We recently wrote about the initiative, and people across the globe have been inspired by the call to reduce the amount of waste they produce, including single-use plastics. Down in Australia, one father is joining the Zero Waste Movement to help heal his sons’ wounds — and the planet!

One fateful day, James Dutton’s son suffered a severe allergic reaction to the plastic found in traditional adhesive bandages. His son’s close call inspired him to action. “I think we should start looking into the movement [of] banning single-use plastics in wound care,” says Dutton. “There’s no reason why there needs to be plastic in that component.”

Dutton’s response was to create PATCH, a bandage made entirely from organic bamboo fibers. Through a range of products, PATCH shows the versatility of using all-natural ingredients — one bandage uses coconut oil to soothe abrasions and grazes, while another employs activated charcoal to heal bites and splinters.

PATCH zero waste production

PATCH touts a simple formula for success: all of their products are natural, organic, biodegradable and sustainable. 99.5% of the materials that go into their bandages are part of a closed-loop process. When they’re recycled, they don’t release pollution into the water or air. Using nothing more than bamboo, recycled cardboard, paper and bio-plastic, PATCH earns its clever tagline: “Scratches are natural. So are PATCHes.”

PATCH decomposing, zero waste

Even discounting the plastic you have to peel off of the sticky bits, traditional bandages are made of materials that don’t play too kind with Mother Earth. In the GIF above you can see just how long it takes for them to start breaking down into the soil. Compare that to a PATCH in the middle, which will naturally degrade in your compost heap in a matter of weeks without leaving a trace.

As more and more people get on board with the Zero Waste Movement, it’s exciting to watch the implications for the packaging world. Reducing reliance on single-use plastic and designing packaging with eco-friendliness in mind is a passion close to Ernest’s heart. See how we’re doing our part to patch up the planet with our sustainability efforts.