Nature’s Plastics

Posted by All day kids on 2011-08-28

Share this:

Email this Print this

You’ve all heard about problems with plastics. They pollute our rivers and oceans, kill animals, and create a loss of mess around our homes. If you look at plastic fibers under a microscope,you’ll see that they look like noodles! The fibers are wound around each other tightly and don’t easily come out. This is why stuff like straws, toothbrushes, shoes and bottles don’t break easily. But this great property of plastic is its biggest problem. Because it’s so strong, it doesn’t break up easily and creates hassles for all of us.

But scientists have come up with some new and fascinating ways of making plastics from plants! The plastics that we normally use in our daily life are made from oil and gas. They are found

only in small quantities in the earth and cause pollution, too. But plant plastics are made from wood, stems and stalks. They are just as strong but kinder to nature. But there’s a catch here, too.

Plant plastics are not as waterproof as normal plastics. Can you imagine what would happen if your computer loaded up with water? Well, if it were made with plant plastics then that’s what

would happen! So the plant plastic dream is a long way off.

There are also efforts going on to make bacteria that eat up plastics. What a miracle it would be if this project was successful! No more piles of plastic!

Until then, play safe with plastic. Use cloth bags. Throw away plastic carefully!