There is something deeply comforting about believing that the plastic problem is solved by placing it in the correct bin.

A kind of green absolution… We consume… We discard… We recycle… and we sleep peacefully.

I have dedicated my life to the laboratory, and if there is one thing I have learned over the years, it is that nature cannot be fooled by attractive labels. The planet does not understand “green marketing”; it understands facts—not those printed in sales brochures, but those resulting from real thermodynamic and biological processes

I often pause in the cleaning aisle of supermarkets. I watch families open the bottles, inhale deeply, and smile as they sense that “Fresh Lemon” or “Intense Lavender” aroma. For most people, that smell is synonymous with hygiene and safety.

For me, as a scientist specialized in biomaterials, it is a biological warning signal.

Now more than ever, we want to know if what we buy is good for the planet. With so much information everywhere, sometimes it’s hard to tell if a product is really sustainable… or just seems that way.