A look at why plastic can be a good servant but a bad master
Photo by Ignat Kushanrev on Unsplash
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Our relationship with plastic
Plastic is indispensable! We all use it voluntarily or involuntarily. But what is plastic? From whence did it originate? Why was it created? How is it made and why is it so in-destructively destructive?
We, the humans of this world create and consume more plastic than ever! Plastic is littering oceans, cities, and waterways. With its use, we are poisoning the environment, plants, marine life, and each other.
Our dependence on plastic contributes to health problems for one and all!
The Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) states that plastic components make up more than 12% of municipal solid waste. This has drastically increased since the 1960’s when consumption was at a mere 1%. Mass production of plastic increased significantly during the 1950s, drastically setting the stage for our current crisis.
Global production of plastic polymers increased from around 1.5 million tons in 1950 to 322 million tons by 2015 and those numbers continue to rise. It is estimated that during 2010, between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons of mismanaged land-based plastic waste entered the oceans.
Plastic — a chemical substance produced by changing the composition of natural products or by the synthesis of primary chemicals utilizing components from oil, natural gas, or coal.
The term “plastics” encompasses all the various types of polymers.
Although there are many different types of polymers, plastics are generally lightweight with varying degrees of tensile strength. Plastics can be molded, extruded, cast, and blown into a limitless variety of shapes, as well as films, foams, or even drawn into fibers for textiles. Many types of coatings, sealants, and glues are actually plastics, too.
For plastic creation, carbon atoms usually form chemical bonds with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, or sulfur. These chemical reactions can and will determine the strength, durability, and malleability of said plastic.
When the connections of atoms result in long chains, like a string of beads, the polymer is called thermoplastic.
Thermoplastics become plastic on heating and harden on cooling, and are able to repeat these processes.
Plastic that we would come to know and depend on was created by Alexander Parkes in 1862. Created from an organic material called Parkesine (made from a mixture of chloroform and castor oil, a substance as hard as horn, but as flexible as leather, capable of being cast or stamped, painted, dyed, or carved).
Parkesine was itself a derivative of cellulose an insoluble substance that is the main component of plant cell walls. The cellulose once heated could be molded and then retained its’ shape upon cooling. Rubber along with several other materials served as the precursor of plastics we would come to know and love.
