By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on October 1st,2010% Bioplastics are often used to describe plastics that are biodegradable,but there are other requirements. The book Green Plastics by E.S. Stevens defines bioplastics as follows: “Bioplastics is a concise –and suitable –name for biodegradable plastics whose components are derived entirely or almost entirely from renewable raw materials. A bioplastic contains one or more biopolymeric substances as an essential substance. -E.S. Stevens 2002 Bioplastics may include a combination of biopolymer(s),plastizer(s) and other additive(s). Since this book was written 8 years has elapsed and the definition of bioplastic has evolved and shifted slightly. . . . →Read More:Terminology –Bioplastics By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on September 29th,2010% The world of plastics has recently been abuzz with plastics from renewable resources. There are companies working on corn,sugar cane,keratin,and even kiwi fruit based plastics. These plastics help alleviate some use of petroleum in the production industry. Bacteria –Caroline Davis2010 These plastics come from plant based sources and by-product of food production. But are there even more avenues to explore. OPX Biotechnologies,a start up in Boulder,Colorado,is using bacteria to produce chemicals that usually come from the petroleum stream. Using E. Coli bacteria,the company produces acrylic acid from sugar. This . . . →Read More:Bacteria based plastic? By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on September 26th,2010%  I recently visited scenic Colorado. I spent a week hiking the mountains,camping by reservoirs and enjoying the unspoiled beauty of remote locations. Yet something kept making me think of this blog. Not being privy to a refrigerator or even a cooler,we made frequent trips to grocery stores for our daily meals. Something struck me every time I was checking out:“would you like me to put this in a bag?”. It wasn’t a question of “paper or plastic”. I hadn’t thrown my reusable bags on the belt asking them to fill them first. I didn’t even have . . . →Read More:Do you need a bag? By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on September 25th,2010%  From time to time a structure is built to illustrate a point about the wastefulness of our society. The building is made of hundred to hundreds of thousands of objects that would be found in our society’s waste stream. Often the objects are part of packaging. Here are a couple recent examples Beer Crate Pavilion Currently located in Brussels,from a distance the building looks like it is constructed of giant yellow Lego blocks. It was constructed in 2008 by Belgian and UK architecture firm SHSH to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Expo 1958. These “Lego”blocks are . . . →Read More:Plastic Structures By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 25th,2010%  I visited one of my college professors yesterday and we had a fantastic conversation about the benefits and flaws of plastics as related to my blog. He brought up an excellent point about the most vilified product in our society,plastic disposable water bottles. Water bottles are extensively distributed in disaster areas. The local water quality in undermined and it’s important to quickly distribute safe water to hundreds,possibly thousands of local victims. The prepackaged water containers are readily available and can be shipped out immediately. Source:Jae C. Hong,AP As for the choice of plastic for . . . →Read More:Plastics in Humanitarian Uses By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 22nd,2010%  Recently the bioplastics that is most often seen in the press is Poly(lactic) acid,or PLA. It is best known for being made of non-petroleum materials,biodegradable and causing issues with existing waste disposal infrastructure. It is also being used in several bioresorbable medical implants. In fact a lot of people seem to associate bioplastics with a material that degrades in a reasonable period of time either through biodegradation,oxy-degradation or composting. However a bioplastic recently being noticed does not degrade. They are essentially traditional plastics made of renewable feedstock. These plastics are 100% recyclable in mainstream recycling their . . . →Read More:Plastics from Renewable Feedstocks By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 21st,2010%  I originally posted this blog post on Greenwala on August 12,2010 As I browse environmental websites on the internet,I have often seen statistics that relate to the lack of plastic that makes it into the recycling stream. The Wikipedia Article on plastic recycling (as of August 12,2010) states the following: Plastic recycling rates lag far behind those of other items,such as newspaper (about 80%) and corrugated fiberboard (about 70%). All plastic bottles were recycled at a rate of 24% in 2005. The EPA Common Wastes and Materials reports states the . . . →Read More:Does Recycling Confusion Hurt Plastics? By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 15th,2010%  This souvenir was brought to my attention by Tacky Tourist Photos. This “I (heart) NY”snow globe looks like an everyday water filled globe with white flakes meant to represent snow. That is until you notice the tiny brown plastic bag floating around peacefully with flakes. While this scene would actually remind us of many large cities,it’s important to remember that within our culture of recycling,bioplastics and hybrid cars,we often still have a littering problem. Whether the problem is inconsiderate pedestrians throwing their trash on the ground,an improperly secured trailer on the way to the . . . →Read More:Plastic Bags Littering NYC –In Souvenir Form By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 13th,2010%  Bioplastics from renewable resources often get slammed for taking materials from possible food sources. So I was very excited when I found out about a project in the running for the Pepsi Refresh Project:bioplastics from chicken feathers. This material uses a chicken meat production byproduct to make a keratin based biodegradable plastic. The material saves feathers from going into landfills and then can decompose. The Eastern Bioplastics is seeking $50,000 from the refresh project,be sure to vote here. Modern Plastics Worldwide magazine recently wrote a piece about Keratin based plastics and their front runner Eastern Bioplastics. . . . →Read More:Keratin plastics –Feathers Tickle Imaginations By Miriam Wilcox-Barsalou,on August 11th,2010%  Just like recycling is useless unless we create a market for post-recycled product. Bioplastics are useless unless we establish the proper waste management infrastructure to allow them to decompose. When Sunchips released their new compostable chip bags earlier this year,it was the talk of the environmental blogs. These bags could decompose in as little as 14 weeks under optimal compost conditions. Credit:Myself Just one problem,most Americans do not compost. I have the luxury of living in a rural area where I can have a compost bin in a location that does not bother my household . . . →Read More:Change the world by Changing your Community | CreditsBlog design elements by Kate HadfieldUsed as non-profit generating blog TOU |
