For decades scientists have warned us about the extent of plastic waste polluting the environment. It is only recently that people have begun to listen and change their consumer habits.
Historians and archaeologists divide eras of civilizations by the tools they use.
There were once Stone Age civilizations and Iron Age civilizations, and this age can be known not only as the technological age, but also as the plastic age. Future archaeologists will date this current era by the masses of synthetic waste left behind by petrochemical byproducts that were once considered to be a miracle solution to the problems of mass manufacturing.
Plastic hasn’t always been the enemy. In fact, the first synthetic polymer was invented in 1869 by John Wesley Hyatt as an alternative material to make billiard balls then made from ivory. As an environmentally-friendly solution to the slaughtering of elephants Hyatt came up with a celluloid plastic that could be crafted into a variety of shapes and sizes.
This revolutionary discovery meant natural resources were not depleted or exhausted by human manufacturing. Celluloid was praised as the saviour of fauna such as elephants and turtles, and flora such as trees. Plastics helped free poorer people from the discomforts of poverty. Household furniture and utensils became affordable as mass plastic manufacturing took off.
Wars bring with them death, horror, and innovations. The Second World War saw a massive surge in the plastic industry with the manufacturing of parachutes, cock-pit windscreens, helmet liners, and body armour – plastics were now saving lives and production reached mass scale.
Factories were turning out products of every type, most of these products were not designed for single use – but more or less all of them still exist.
The optimism about plastics didn’t last that long. In the postwar years, a shift in attitudes to plastics began. Plastic debris in the oceans was first observed in the 1960s. Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, exposed the dangers of chemical pesticides. As awareness about environmental issues spread, the persistence of plastic waste began to trouble observers well into the 1970s. Plastic, as a noun, was used to describe anything that which was cheap, flimsy, or fake.
Plastic, once our friend, was now becoming our own worst enemy.
But there is still time to reverse this trend. Governments are banning single-use plastic bags, reusables such as the frank green bottle are now a fashion accessory. Bio-plastics are a fashionable alternative to 100% plastics, but only go some way to addressing the problem of single-use packaging.
95% of plastic packaging is used in one-and-done products. This is a habit that needs to change. While governments, manufacturers, retailers, and distributors are partly to blame, if consumers ceased to buy products wrapped in single-use plastic packaging then manufacturing behaviour would need to change.
Plastic, being virtually indestructible, will be with us our entire lifetimes and that of future generations, but the rapid manufacturing of single-use plastics is partially in our, the consumer’s hands.
Also Read About:
