Three Pros of Plastic
You’ve probably heard lots of reasons to not use paper.
Well, plastic actually has some valuable benefits for both you and the environment. Here’s three reasons why plastic is not so bad, especially when you know the right way to get rid of it.
1. Durability
Before you recycle, it’s best to reuse. Plastic is one of the best products for reuse because of its durability. It won’t break as easily as glass, and is able to be stretched and reformed unlike metals and paper. It also adapts well to changes in temperature.
For these reasons, it makes a lot of sense to reuse plastic around the house:
- Plastic water bottles can be refilled from the tap
- Plastic butter tubs can be used to store food in the refrigerator
- Packing peanuts can be transferred from one package to the next
Chances are, you’ll find many more options for reusing plastic than other materials.
2. Weight
Did you know that plastic is actually lighter than metal and glass as a container? You may be watching your weight, and companies are no different.
Lighter packaging not only costs less to ship (meaning it might save you money as a consumer), but it will take less gas to transport. Companies are recognizing the opportunity to reduce their impact through delivery, sticking with plastic but finding ways to make the packaging weight even lighter.
3. Variety
When an aluminum can or glass bottle is recycled, it typically becomes a new can or bottle. Paper is downcycled, meaning that a piece of computer paper may eventually become a paper towel. But plastic recycling creates entirely new products.
Granted, plastic bottles can still be recycled into new plastic bottles. But they can also create jacket lining, deck lumber and railroad tracks. That’s a lot of bang for your recycling buck.
Now that you know how valuable plastic is, what is it doing at the bottom of your trash can? If you can’t reuse it, recycle plastic using Earth 911.
As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments. The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
sharedusername
posted on July 6th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Is the author of this by any chance a plastics salesman?
Plastic more durable than glass? Man get off it.
If you drop a filled plastic water jug on the floor, even though it may not shatter, you’ll still have a mess to clean up. Plastic plates become scratched after awhile and can’t be cleaned easily. Ceramic dishes outlive plastic. And if you’re not careful plastics can melt in the dishwasher and if they drop down to the heating element it can even start a fire.
Reuse an empty tub of butter? If you buy butter sticks wrapped in wax paper you don’t even get stuck with any plastic to begin with. Just a little paperboard.
Lighter packaging… can be achieved with paper or other renewable natural materials. They are out there. I’ll admit plastic bottles are lighter than glass, the corporate titans still manage to make it so we can but a 40 ounce of Colt 45 for about a dollar or two. Perhaps we can start bottling stuff locally and creating jobs to curtail rising transportation costs instead of trying to cheap out and have stuff produced farther away.
I could argue the variety bit all day long. I don’t think it makes a strong case for using plastics when other materials are available.
bopeep
posted on July 8th, 2008 at 10:59 am
sharedusername,
It may help you to look at this issue holistically. You have to assess the environmental impact over the entire life cycle of the product being assessed. That means extracting clay for ceramics, heat for calcining the clay into ceramic materials, more heat to apply the glaze, and the resources to make the glaze itself. Then there’s the water pollution issue of washing the plate 1000 times.
I realize that after enjoying a few 40s of Colt 45, you may have trouble with the whole “big picture” view, but rest assured that there is more to plastic than those scarelore emails that you have to send to 10 of your friends or they will die from exposure to plastic.
Today’s thermoplastics are nearly infinitely recyclable. I say nearly, because the melt cycles and impurities cause some inherent loss, but not as bad as in some other industries, like paper, where the fibers are eventually reduced to little more than dust. That brown bag on your Colt 45, for instance, is just about at the end of it’s life.
BeGreen!
posted on October 29th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I think everyone needs to realize that consumption of plastic is bad no matter how you cut it and no I do not believe that, “thermoplastics are nearly infinitely recyclable” But if you do consume plastic it is best to think of ways to reuse the plastic before recycling it. Glass and plastic close the recycling loop, unlike plastic. Closing the loop means that the material can infinitely be recycled and remade into the same product. Plastic is usually downcycled, which means when it is recycled it is made into something less than the plastic bottle. The recycled plastic can be made into carpet or fill for your winter coat! Please understand that no matter what if we consume less we help more. If you want water get a trendy reusable container, it is actually very unhealthy to refill your PLASTIC water bottles because the plastic leaks toxins when any heat gets to it such as leaving it in your car or the heat of a dish washer; and bacteria grows inside your reused water bottles and the heat required to clean the bacteria will release the toxins. If I were you I would not refill plastic water bottles. Get a reusable bottle, preferably bph free hard plastic or aluminum, and if your on the go and forgot your bottle use a fountain or recycle the bottle you consumed!!! Stay healthy and green!!!! Please check out my recycling blog, http://anb81.edublogs.org/
julie
posted on November 24th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
1. Durability
We use glass at home and our breaking rate is one item a year. Glass does not pollute our food like plastic would. Glass actually lasts longer than plastic, because plastic becomes brittle over time.
Metal bottles or ceramic mugs or glasses can be reused with tap water.
Any cooking container with a lid, or bowl covered with a plate, or glass jar can be used to store food in the fridge.
Cardboard, paper and popcorn can be used to package oddly shaped mailings.
Chances are, you have a lot of stuff laying around that you can use instead of plastic.
2. Weight
The majority of the time, plastic is used to overpackage, which means the same item could be packed with other materials which are close enough in weight. USPS has flat rates which render weight irrelevant if you think about it.
In many cases, you are better off not buying things, and thus saving the environment by not shipping any heavy load in the first place. Think local.
3. Variety
Plastic can only be downcycled to one other item, which then goes on to pollute over hundreds of years, asphixiating the soil, concentrating toxins, and killing organisms of all sizes. One plastic piece of trash can kill many generations of creatures, and a variety of them.
Recycling plastic is expensive.
Don’t be part of the problem. Just avoid plastic whenever you can. Every little bit counts.
Jake
posted on May 27th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Change takes time and i believe this is a small step towards greater change in helping our environment