Meet Naila Moloo

At just 17 years old, Naila Moloo has already accomplished a lot! Naila has been working on a transparent and flexible solar cell with the Solar Innovation Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University and interning with Pond Biomaterials to develop a bioplastic from duckweed. She is a published author and co-hosts The Curiosity Podcast. She has been selected as one of DMZ's women of the year 2022 and was included on the Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 list in 2021!

We were very excited to have the chance to meet with her to discuss her bioplastic research, ways to raise awareness among young people about the harmful impact of plastic consumption, and her hopes for the future of this planet.

Here’s our Q&A with Naila Moloo.

Plastic is not the only option!

We were very excited to see that you are working on bioplastics. Can you tell us more about this project?

I've been working on this for maybe 2 years now. I've been working on a bioplastic from an aquatic species called duckweed, which is a plant that we humans don't eat and that grows in water. A lot of the time, bioplastics (which are basically just bio-based plastic) come from crops, like corn, sugarcane and potato. But we need to eat those, and we also need land to grow them on. If we were to scale those to the extent that they needed to be scaled, we'd actually be cutting down rainforest to make space, and that's obviously not sustainable. I wanted to look at something that could grow in water that wouldn't cut into human consumption, and that's when I came across duckweed.

When I was [first] interested in bioplastics, I was just reaching out to experts and started having calls with the CEO of Pond Biomaterials. He kind of became a mentor to me, and then I started developing this idea. He asked me if I wanted to work on it at his company, and I said that'd be great!

Why do you think it's important to find new ways to reuse and reduce our plastic consumption?

Plastic consumption is exceptionally detrimental to so many facets of life. It's really really harmful to the environment. I think people are finally starting to see that and beginning to ban single-use plastics. But it's [outrageous] that it comes to this for us to start taking action, and even now it's not enough. It has caused enormous destruction to so many living things and although the effects may not have been as direct for humans, it has overwhelmed the capacity for hundreds of thousands of ecosystems. I think that's why we feel like when things don't affect us directly we tend to just put them on the back burner. But now it really is starting to impact humans. There are microplastics found in our food. There have been studies that show that there are microplastics in human blood and lungs now! So it's really gotten to an extent where it's harming everybody.

A used plastic glass lies on the floor on dead leaves.

How do you think we can raise awareness among young people about the harmful effect of plastic on our environment?

[Do] exactly what Ocean School is doing! Creating programs to educate youth about these problems is really important. But also introducing action. Everybody can play a role, and everybody can start trying to make a difference in their own communities. Awareness and exposure are just the first steps. After that, actually teaching [students] that they can do things to help tackle [the problem] is important. Seeing photos is something that really got to me when I was young. It really makes it real. I think that is something that really hits home with a lot of youth. Telling them true stories about what has happened and not sugarcoating it. Sometimes you want to protect youth, but this is something that is very real, and although it's scary, and it's sad, it's really important to know about.

A student is watching a video with a VR headset. In the background are an Ocean School promotional banner and a laptop showing an Ocean School resource.

How can we do better?

Can you give any advice to others who want to take action for climate change or the environment, and don't know where to start?

I would say just looking for any local opportunities and trying to get involved. If you're noticing things in your school that you think could be changed, maybe write up a proposal or talk to someone about how that might be able to be changed. I feel like there is something that all of us can do. It does not necessarily have to be through STEM or working in a lab. It could be joining any projects you might be interested in or joining nonprofits.

Two people are walking along a beach, collecting garbage. One is holding a bucket and the other a notepad.

What are your hopes for the future of our environment?

I hope that there's going to be an increase in technological solutions to climate change. I know there are so many incredible solutions that are being developed right now that have a lot of potential to replace our current products. So down the line, I hope that governments, individuals, and companies are accepting of these changes.