Do you realize that our lives are molded, packaged and sealed in plastic dependency? Look around us, at our computers, phones, water bottles, credit cards and kid's toys. From automobiles to surgical implants, from kid'd toys to cooking utensils. All are made from plastic if not 100%, its must be 50%, 30%, 20% 10%..but still there is plastic components inside it. Can we live without plastic?
The downsides to plastic are certainly no secret. For starters, it's often a nonbiodegradable, petroleum-derived product. Factor in toxins, wildlife endangerment and difficult recycling, and the plastic industry has quite a public relations problem on its hands. But that's only half the story.
As much as the sight of plastic-littered landscapes and debris-strewn highways depress us, plastic is still a highly attractive material. Plastic manufacturing only takes up 5 percent of the world's oil supplies and, in doing so, provides us with an exhaustive supply of material [source: Kahn]. The ubiquitous substance allows for superior food storage and lighter packaging materials for cheaper transportation. Plastic infiltrates every aspect of our lives for good reason.
According to riset, most plastic bags are only used an average of 12 minutes and then discarded. Consider that the world uses a staggering 1 million bags a minute and you begin to see how big the problem is. Various cities and even whole countries have taken steps to cut down or eliminate plastic bag usage, but even that can't turn back the clock. As each bag takes centuries to break down, the problem will long outlive the groceries they once held -- as well as the humans who filled them. What's more, when left to degrade in the sunlight, polyethylene bags take around 1,000 years to fully break down. 1000 years people.. sure we no longer exist.
SRC: how the thing work
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