The “forever in a landfill” environmentalist slogan is quickly becoming cliché and lost on the general public. Each day, Americans continue to throw out 60 million plastic bottles. Only 14% of which actually get recycled. So, forget landfill slogans. We aren’t getting it done.
plastic1Try this on for size: there exists an island of garbage out in the Pacific Ocean the size of Texas? Texas! Due to some interestingly dull oceanographic factors, nearly all of the refuse jettisoned into the Pacific meanders its way over to become trapped in the same area. Also, plastic is incapable of degrading. Not only has this resulted in a pile of trash larger than I am even capable of comprehending, but it will apparently never go away. Ever. Plastic does, however, break down physically into smaller and smaller bits until it resembles tasty krill. Krill is what a very large portion of sea life eats. So, you see the problem.
Plastic is an amazing substance that makes our activities more convenient and saves perhaps billions of lives through food packaging and medical equipment. Plastic has a variety of wonderful properties and high up on that list is the fact that it doesn’t break down. It doesn’t whither or turn bad. It doesn’t chemically react with food or medicine or anything really. But there is the problem. A substance that cannot be broken down by any environmental exposure and cannot be eaten by anything will fill its little nook in the world FOREVER.
A few decades of intense marketing for plastic made it out to be the end-all miracle material (which, it may be), but many great designers and high-end businesses are finally breaking out of that rut and embracing paper.
We are beginning to realize again that there is no loss of class in paper products. Even glass is seeing a packaging decline. Many fine mid-range wine makers have begun adopting boxes in addition to or instead of glass bottles.
The 360 Paper Bottle, for example, is a far more sustainable approach to water bottles and packaging in general. It is totally recyclable paper made from 100% renewable resources. The lining uses biodegradable PLA film. The end result is entirely food-grade material. The 360 Paper Bottle meets all criteria for all liquid categories and is sturdy enough for a variety of applications and multiple reuse. The paper bottle design has had a good critical and market response, including having received an IDEA (International Design Excellence Award) for this design.
Eco experts and enthusiasts will always stress the value of reusing, so keep in mind that filling the same bottle every day is far superior an option than even the most environmental paper alternative. However, we still applaud this great paper design and hope that it sparks the about-face of old industry packaging standards across the board. If we can get all packaging to be made from eco-friendly materials in the first place, then the collective hazardous waste and energy consumption could go down dramatically.
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we can still use plastic, but one thing.. people should know how to use it right. they can recycle and reuse plastics anyways.
ReplyDeleteNice information, this is really useful for me. There is nothing to argue about. Keep posting stuff like this i really like it. Thanks and God Bless.
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