Conventional Oil Based Plastics vs. Innovative Green Plastics
Conventional Oil Based Plastics Vs. Innovative Green Plastics
The Twentieth century was filled with many inventions that have greatly influenced our world. The invention of plastic was one of the most dramatic of them all. Humans use plastics each and every day and just imagining a day without them is inconceivable. A material can be a plastic if it satisfies three conditions: its main ingredient must be a polymer material, it must be fluid at some point during processing, and it must be solid in its final form. (Stevens) In our ever-changing world, plastics have improved in areas such as: standards of living, health care, and education. Although plastics are so important, they are posing environmental hazards to our world. Three factors that affect how environmentally friendly something is are renewability, degradability, and production. (Stevens) However, there is a new type of plastic being pursued called green plastic or bio plastic. It is an alternative to the oil based plastics and there is an increasing interest in it because of what it has to offer. All in all, when comparing the two types it is evident that green plastics are better than conventional oil based plastics due their less harmful affects on the environment.
Renewability is classified as how quickly the ingredients that go into making the plastic are created in the environment. The term bio-plastic describes the polymers derived from plant sugars or plastics grown inside, which are genetically modified plants or microorganisms. (Martinez-Velon) Author of the book, What makes Green Plastics Green, E.S Stevens said, "Carbohydrate material (from plants) is more plentiful in the biosphere than all other organic matter combined. They are agricultural feed stocks that could provide a large sustainable source of biodegradable plastic materials." (Stevens) The polymers that go into making bio plastics are abundant natural resources that are constantly being replenished by nature. "We can
The Twentieth century was filled with many inventions that have greatly influenced our world. The invention of plastic was one of the most dramatic of them all. Humans use plastics each and every day and just imagining a day without them is inconceivable. A material can be a plastic if it satisfies three conditions: its main ingredient must be a polymer material, it must be fluid at some point during processing, and it must be solid in its final form. (Stevens) In our ever-changing world, plastics have improved in areas such as: standards of living, health care, and education. Although plastics are so important, they are posing environmental hazards to our world. Three factors that affect how environmentally friendly something is are renewability, degradability, and production. (Stevens) However, there is a new type of plastic being pursued called green plastic or bio plastic. It is an alternative to the oil based plastics and there is an increasing interest in it because of what it has to offer. All in all, when comparing the two types it is evident that green plastics are better than conventional oil based plastics due their less harmful affects on the environment.
Renewability is classified as how quickly the ingredients that go into making the plastic are created in the environment. The term bio-plastic describes the polymers derived from plant sugars or plastics grown inside, which are genetically modified plants or microorganisms. (Martinez-Velon) Author of the book, What makes Green Plastics Green, E.S Stevens said, "Carbohydrate material (from plants) is more plentiful in the biosphere than all other organic matter combined. They are agricultural feed stocks that could provide a large sustainable source of biodegradable plastic materials." (Stevens) The polymers that go into making bio plastics are abundant natural resources that are constantly being replenished by nature. "We can