By Rashidat Oladele
Claim: Coconut husk replaces plastic styrofoam coolers.
Sam Bentley, a climate solutions and sustainability developer on social media, especially LinkedIn, shared information about Tamara and David’s Nutshell cooler brand and their claim that they can replace polystyrene, sometimes known as plastic styrofoam, with natural insulation made from coconut waste husk..
Making Nutshell cooler out of it turning waste into sustainable products as coconut husk is turned into natural cooling insulator while the shell is made of recycled plastic these way encouraging environmental stewardship
The innovation is culled out of the mission of replacing plastic foam found in many products that’s hard to recycle and ends up floating in waterway’s causing more damage to aquatic animals.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/itssambentley_this-is-how-coconuts-could-help-fight-plastic-activity-
NatureNews, Africa’s foremost news publications which is dedicated to providing accurate insights to stop the spread of fake news particularly among users of social media, subjected the claim to fact checking.
Findings: Using the Google search tool in conducting this research, NatureFact, the fact checking unit of NatureNews, accessed a few papers and studies.
https://www.businessinsider.com/coconut-husks-could-replace-foam-insulation-in-coolers-2023-12
The Philippines ranks second globally in terms of coconut production. An estimated 9 billion husks are burned or allowed to decay in this location each year. Rather than using the widely used expanded polystyrene foam, sometimes mislabeled as styrofoam, Fortuna Cools uses that trash to manufacture coolers. This difficult-to-recycle plastic is produced in excess of 14 million tons annually.
https://typeset.io/questions/what-are-the-environmental-impacts-of-using-coconut-
“Coconut husks can be used as an alternative to Styrofoam boxes, which can help minimize the environmental impacts associated with Styrofoam. The husk material is easily broken down in the soil, making it biodegradable and not harmful to the environment when it becomes trash.
https://thanhcongcraft.medium.com/the-use-of-coconut-husk-
“Coconut husks are a versatile and sustainable resource with many practical uses, The husks are a valuable resource that can be utilized in various industries and applications.
Verdict: True