Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Wondering about plastic.

Plastic has become such a large part of our lives it is hard to think of a time when people didn't have plastic.  Back then they would have had to wear clothes made from plant or animal parts and use things that were designed to last for use after use after use and not throw-a-way things.  Actually, plastic has been with us for a long time, way before I was born.  A simple plastic was first created back in the 1850's and since then almost everything has been made from it.  In 1907 an American scientist came up with Bakelite, a "material of a thousand uses".  It was used to make at least a "thousand" items, that is for sure.

The next year cellophane was invented.  I suppose the most thought of product it was used for is cellophane (Scotch) tape.  No, it wasn't invented in Scotland; so why was it called "Scotch" tape?  Well, one day a frustrated company tester yelled, "Take this tape back to those Scotch [miserly] bosses...and tell them to put more adhesive on it".

Bacterial and fungi can not consume plastic because the plastic molecule is too large for the microbes to digest.  So, I guess someday when they take a picture of Earth from space it will look like a ball of plastic (grin).  I have heard that there are floating islands of plastic in the oceans.  Sunlight can break down plastic but it takes time and can't possibly keep up with the production rate.  Remember back when most things were able to be recycled and used over and over again?  We need to come up with better ways of reusing plastic.  Oh well, maybe someday the favorite vacation destination will be to a floating plastic island.  I always try to look on the bright side of everything.  So, go get dressed in your synthetic plastic clothes, drink your juice poured from a plastic container into a plastic "glass", put it back into a partly plastic refrigerator, and get into the beautiful plastic interior of your car, and have a great day and if things start falling apart, hold them together with cellophane tape, you hear?

9 comments:

  1. Like many things in today's society, plastic can be a wonderful blessing as well as a terrible curse. How can there be an island (actually more than one) in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, greater than the size of Texas, composed of trashed plastic! I can't think of a word to describe it except "sinful". What a sin against creation and the universe! (I just bought a bottle of 1/2 & 1/2 for my coffee that comes in an honest-to-god reusable glass bottle. Love it!)

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  2. As plastic breaks into smaller and small pieces, it begins to enter the food chain. We've no idea how it's affecting living things. I guess we'll find out, as there's an awful lot of it in the world.

    Have you heard what plastic grocery bags blowing in the wind is called? Urban tumbleweeds.

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  3. I've seen pics of that floating debri in the ocean,,and it washes up on the coast over and over, and will, over and over.

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  4. I call all those flying bags Wally Birds. There's always more around WalMart than anywhere else.

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  5. many yards of carpet is made from plastic

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  6. Gypsy, was that glass bottle just reusable by you or could you return it to be refilled like the old milk bottles when
    I was a kid.

    Sixbears, I hadn't heard of it entering the food chain but I sure wouldn't doubt it. Noe urban tumble weeds is funny.

    Trouble, it has been out there for a lot of years and growing fast.

    Papoo Jack, Wally birds is a good name for them. I will remember that.

    Anon, there is and can be a lot of stuff made out of used plastic.

    TFT, yep, the real world is made out of plastic

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  7. That island of plastic is really shameful...

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