Rakesh Guduru (PhD) on reinventing sustainable water usage
Rakesh Guduru, Ph.D.
Founder and CEO, CrazyCap
Stories of sustainability experts, leading ecopreneurs and bold ideas that drive the world towards a sustainable future.
How has been your journey in the sustainability and ecopreneurship space so far?
It’s been quite the journey-- and what’s so great about life is that you never know quite where you’ll end up. I’ve always loved creating, technology, and solving real-world issues. I received my PhD in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, and after recognizing the plastic crisis and knowing about Deep UV technology offering chemical free, filter-less, instant sterilization properties, I dove head-first into CrazyCap. After garage-built prototypes and industrial design models, we test the efficacy of the technology working through accredited third-party microbiology labs, followed by more prototypes and testing, a Kickstarter raising ~3.5 times our goal, and many moments of triumph and struggle in between, CrazyCap was born.
As CEO of CrazyCap, I take extreme pride in developing solutions for a sustainable planet. My relationship with sustainability is the same as many. I live in Florida, and saw how plastic was affecting the beaches here. I know of the water crisis happening around the world. As a lover of solving problems as well as wanting to help the environment and others, I took my background as an Electrical engineer and ran with my ideas to solve these problems.
What do you want to achieve with your initiative CrazyCap?
CrazyCap is a multidimensional tool that solves both global and personal challenges. I created CrazyCap to help end single-use plastic, while making clean water more accessible.
It’s becoming more and more apparent how much plastic use is affecting the planet and us— microplastics are being found in snowflakes in Utah and are being consumed by creatures living in the deepest parts of our oceans. There’s no debate about the issue of plastic waste— there are just facts. CrazyCap is helping solve several current day problems related to drinking water and single-use plastic pollution by taking the need for bottled water out of the equation. Humans across the globe are currently under the impression that they need bottled water to have safe drinking water. We’re here to change that assumption, while donating 5% of every purchase made towater.org.
Why are you interested and drive behind topics like climate impact and sustainability?
It’s simple really. Folks can debate climate change all they want, but no one can debate the images of garbage patches (according to PBS, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is twice the size of Texas) or the research finding microplastics in some of the deepest parts of the ocean (this article by National Geographic documents micro plastics found in the Mariana Trench).
When I began this journey, I wanted to change the plastic narrative. I live in Florida, and I’ve seen more and more beaches devastated by waste blanketing the shores. I don’t want to think about what it will be like for the younger generation, but I can’t help it. And that future seems bleak. At CrazyCap, we want to help save these beautiful places, and help our oceans survive the human waste obsession. We’ve caused these problems— it’s our responsibility to the planet and the coming generations to fix them.
What do you think are the problems we need to address on a global scale? How can we achieve this and drive change?
Similar to #3, I think we need to work toward ending our pollution issue, specifically plastic. It’s not a matter of recycling as much as creating a solution to replace plastic. Hence, CrazyCap was born-- a reusable water that allows you to have safe, clean drinking water anywhere.
Another, though, is the water crisis so many people are facing today. According to water.org, 785 million people - 1 in 9- lack access to safe water at home. Not only that, but 2 billion, or 1 in 3 people, don’t have access to a toilet. For many of us, these numbers are quite shocking. That’s why we teamed up with water.org, an amazing organization solving the water crisis on a global scale.
I think the most important thing to remember is, you don’t need to be solving issues on a global scale. One reusable bottle may not seem a lot, but what if 100,000 people switched to reusable water bottles? Small changes do make a big difference-- and that’s what we’re dedicated to. Making a difference, however we can.
How can individuals contribute to accelerate the world towards a more sustainable future?
It really is in the hand of everyone, and like I mentioned earlier, small changes do make a big impact. There are an infinite number of ways folks can decrease their CO2 emissions, and those variations can all come in different intensities. For instance, according to UC Davis, cattle are the No. 1 agriculture source of greenhouse gases worldwide. So how can you make an impact on such a large scale statistic? It doesn’t mean you have to cut out meat altogether if that isn’t what you want. Yes, you can become a vegan, pescatarian, or vegetarian. You could also stop eating beef, or go for meatless Mondays. Not eating meat on Mondays may not seem like it will have a huge impact on the global scale, but can you imagine if everyone stopped eating meat on Mondays?
Truly, we all just need to see what is important to us, and remember everything is touched by the environment. Love going for walks outside? Great, help keep your local park clean. Love your family? Wonderful, let’s help them be healthier by reducing air pollution. The real way to make a change within our own lives is to see how we are personally being affected.
Other habits I personally love are using a reusable water bottle (obviously!), using reusable bags at the store, biking or walking versus driving, and composting kitchen scraps. We don’t all need to reduce our emissions perfectly, but we all should work toward reducing our emissions imperfectly.
What is your vision of a more sustainable future? In which technologies and trends do you believe?
For those who say climate change isn’t real, I always wonder why they fight those who want help the environment. Okay, so you don’t believe in climate change. So why not try and make our Earth healthier anyways? Why wouldn’t you want to create cleaner air, healthier ecosystems, and preserve parks for the future? I’ve never quite understood it.
For me, my vision for the future is simple, and I’ve mentioned it before. We don’t all need to reduce our emissions perfectly, we all need to do it imperfectly. Investing in ourselves and in the future generations, exploring technologies like solar and electric cars, and help change the narrative of climate change to help create a healthier planet, are all steps we could take.
I obviously love exploring new paths-- that’s why I created CrazyCap. A new solution to an age-old problem, and it’s working. I truly can’t wait to see what new technologies are developed as we all work toward a healthier planet.
Want to connect?
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCrazyCap/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/microlyscs?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crazycapbottle/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rakesh-guduru-9432b55a/
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