The Crisis and Convenience of Synthetic Plastics

Berkeley Scientific: the journal of young scientists

article

Mina Nakatani

关键词: crisis;    plastics;    polymers;   

DOI  :  10.5070/BS3231042194

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: University of California, Berkeley

【 摘 要 】

“I just want to say one word to you. Justone word… plastics. There’s a greatfuture in plastics.” Back in 1967, a movietitled The Graduate expressed this ratherinsightful sentiment. This quote very nearlypredicted the future; indeed, in the modernworld, plastics are practically ubiquitous.Most marketplaces bag groceries in plasticbags. Families store leftover food in plasticfood wraps and containers. Transparentplastics have even replaced the glass of somewindows and most bottles. In many ways,overstating the importance of plastics is difficult. However, this material, which seemedso revolutionary fifty years ago, has causedmany problems that the quote from TheGraduate could not have foreseen. Today,a quick Internet search reveals heartbreaking photos of animals caught and killed bythe plastic waste that people carelessly leavearound. That same plastic has also createdthe infamous island of trash floating aroundsomewhere in the Pacific Ocean, an obviousproblem with a less than obvious answer.While synthetic plastics have certainly hadsome positive impact on our society, theiralluring convenience caused a new kind ofcrisis in waste production.

【 授权许可】

Unknown