Most packaging used today is not biodegradable and has a never-ending future, which may be ruining our children’s futures.
Plastic is both miracle and monster. The miracles are helmets that save lives; packaging peanuts that protect valuables in transit; utensils, trays and clear wrap for the portability and protection of food; bags for handling groceries and garbage; and indestructible toys and auto dashboards to name a few uses.
The monster is revealed, however, when birds and fish eat plastic forks and spoons, food trays, bags, and take out food packaging like lids and straws. Their stomachs fill with non-nutrient junk and they die. This is not a miracle. This is a preventable disaster. As the per capita demand for fish consumption increases, plastic is taking its toll. In the future, the need for, and loss of, seafood will create another undesired outcome.
Many of our beaches glisten with polymer pearls called ‘nurdles.” From nurdles, all forms of plastic are created, from polyvinyl siding, to food packaging, the elastic polystyrene in truck and car tires and they even find their way into our cosmetics. Nurdles are injected with chemicals to affect the attributes of the final products, making them hard, soft, flexible, brightly colored, shatterproof, etc. The monstrous side of plastic is that once created, it never, ever, degrades and then, buried in landfills or carried by the winds, it pollutes our land and water.
Most of the flotsam at sea comes from the same plastic products that make our lives so convenient. There are several areas at sea, one as large as the state of Texas, where currents create doldrums and the plastic garbage collects there. See the The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
There is hope, however. Beyond the miraculous and monstrous sides of plastic is our American ingenuity. There are biodegradable replacements for many commonly used plastic products. Some are shown at the Natur-Tec site. There are dissolvable shipping peanuts that replace Styrofoam peanuts, biodegradable eating utensils and many other choices available. Americans discovered plastic and now we are developing the cure for its design flaw.
We can have safe, convenience products that will not destroy our planet. We can protect our children without poisoning their environment before they have children of their own. We can make this change happen. We simply have to convince our government and business leaders that we want environmentally safe, biodegradable packaging used exclusively. If we continue to send this message we will enjoy the convenience and flexibility, we have all come to expect, from products that do not have such a monstrous second face.
