Hey! Been a long time. I was kinda into something, so it took me days to post. Sorry about that (again). Ok then, without further ado, we’ll see how we (possibly) can make this world “Plastic-free”.
It was 1862, London. A metallurgist from England, Alexander Parkes has successfully invented, Parkesine, the first, man-made plastic, with cellulose, meaning, it was organic.
Though it was he who first made plastic, the title “Father of Plastic” goes to Leo Baekeland, a Belgian Chemist, who made Bakelite, the first fully developed synthetic plastic in the year 1907. This had no organic derivatives, and that’s exactly where the problem started
Little did he know, that it was gonna harm many lives. Since, it was made of inorganic matter, there was no natural way for plastic to decompose. Of course, he didn’t intentionally make plastic to harm lives. Plastic was originally invented, in search for an alternative that replaced ivory and horn and a material that was waterproof.
It took around 50 years for us to realize the dark side of Plastic. It was in the 60s, people became aware of the environmental issues caused by Plastic. So what did we do? Didn’t really care much in the beginning, but later, slowly, people realized what was going on around them, and learned what they need to do about it.
Plastic: Boon or Bane?
This is a common question that still hinders our mind. The usage of Plastic has become so important, it is now considered to be irreplaceable, by any other alternative. Plastic, being cheap and durable, attracts many people to use it.
Looking at a positive side, one could say that the invention of Plastic, was one of the most appreciable invention in scientific history. It’s durable, waterproof, lightweight and what not! Plastic acts like a combination of many useful things.
So what’s the dark side? Well, as we all know, it’s not decomposable. And flooding the ocean, plastic acts as a primary danger for marine life. Besides that, plastic can’t be digested, and animals that eat it unknowingly, suffer various problems.
Summarizing all the above points, once could easily conclude that, we can find an alternative for plastic, because it does more bad than good. But wait. Is that the only solution? Well, continue reading to find out!
What If… Plastic Can Be Eaten?
This is a weird idea that struck upon me, when I was on my way home from a grocery store. I just thought to myself, “What if we can create an organism, that can thrive, eating nothing but Plastic?”
At first, I laughed at my own idea, but thinking about it, I found it more promising than any other alternative that exists. Now, even if we switch to an alternative, what about the plastic that’s already there? That would still be harming many lives.
So about this idea, an organism that eats plastic to live, sounds more efficient. Though I understand that plastic is an inorganic substance, and can’t be digested by any organism in this planet, it’s just an weird idea.
Plastic has no nutrients in it, so it’s actually hard to make an organism, that lives out of Plastic. Perhaps, why depend on plastic only? We can make an organism, that digests plastic just because it likes too? Just like humans eating snacks, just cause we are addicted to the taste of it.
So this organism, isn’t like some big-human like organism. It can be a microscopic being. A tiny organism that can eat plastic. So I’ve done some reading and found out that, there exists such organism called, Ideonella sakaiensis, a bacteria that eats plastic (PET to be exact) and breaks it down into simpler compounds.
This organism was created in a lab, and trace amounts of these bacteria were also found in the outside world. But yet, the lab-made bacteria isn’t allowed to the outside world, as it releases toxins that are more harmful than plastic itself. So it’s still under development.
But if we manage to make this organism, harmless enough, that thrives and reproduces just using plastic as food, it might be a golden invention for us. But this too, has its dark sides. I mean, what doesn’t?
That’s all for now, folks. Comment your thoughts, like the post(only if you really like it) and share among your friends! And guys, I’m going to reviewing pretty soon, so stay tuned! I’m off for now. See ya. MBB<3
SpacesTrek 