Alexander Parkers and The Creation of Plastic

665 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Hazards of plastic waste essay

Plastic vs. Paper, which of it will be more friendly to our environment? Plastic and paper both plays an important role in today's society. Whenever you went shopping in the grocery store, the cashier will asked you if you want plastic or paper bag. People may think about many different way for choosing plastic or paper bag. Some people may think that which kind of bag they can easily reuse at home. Eventually, most people may just don't care about any kind of bag , neither plastic or paper. All they want to do is have a bag for their grocery food that they bought. Do think you making the right decision every time when you choose your bag for your grocery food or any other junks?
The first plastic was created by Alexander Parkes in the 1856. He invented a agile material called Parkesine that make out multifarious mixtures of nitrocellulose, alcohols, camphor, and oils that expansion the first plastic, celluloid. It was an anatomical equipment imitative from cellulose that when it heated could be molded, and the shape will be remains the same when it cool down. Later on, he openly demonstrated the first public plastic to the world at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London. By openly demonstrated this first public plastic, which he got awarded a prize metal for this honor.
However, paper have a longer history than plastic. Paper was invented by the Chinese court official Ts' ai Lun in China, AD 105. The paper was thin, feted, formed, flat made in penetrable molds from permeated vegetable pile. When Chinese first know how make the paper, many country wants to know how Chinese making the paper, but the Chinese refused tell anyone about their secret. Despite the Chinese want to keep the secret on papermaking, however p...

... middle of paper ...

...hat paper making from wood pulp is a chemically intensive, and influence the environment." However, it creating as much as 50 times the water pollution.
All of the paper-making and plastic-making could be slow to degrade. Paper can be degrade in different time due to how it was made. Usually, it takes about few months, yet it is possible that you can still find the 50-years-old newspapers in landfills.(Thomas) However, plastic takes even longer to degrade. Plastic usually don't degrade the way that paper does. Plastic will not rot like paper did and become organic stuffs that could be reuse to our environment. Furthermore, plastic will only break into small pieces and fly cross everywhere in the air. According to the article, "Plastic bags versus paper bags" Thomas mentions that "recycling a plastic bag requires 91 percent less energy than recycling a paper bag."

Show More
Related

  • Changes And Continuities In China From 100 CE To 600 CE

    677 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 105 CE a man named Cai Lun during the Eastern Han Dynasty invented the paper from worn fishnet, bark and cloth. These materials were used because they could be easily found at a low price compared to Hemp fiber and silk. Hemp fiber and silk were used at first but then the Chinese realized there are greater uses for this material. Therefore they started to use the worn fishnet, bark and

    Read More

  • Plastic Bags Are Good For You By Katherine Mangu-Ward

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    The article Plastic bags are Good for you, by Katherine Mangu-Ward was written to explore the pro’s and con’s of three different types of bags. Which is better between plastic, paper, or reusable bags has always been a debatable question with an opinionated answer. In the article Mangu-Ward characterizes the cause and effect relationships which have lead to the unpopularity of plastic bags in terms of guilt.

    Read More

  • Innovations in Tang Dynasty China

    1839 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to Dr. Keith Ray, paper is one of China’s four great inventions. Paper is made by laying out a mix of organic fibers and draining off the water (Lienhard). Papyrus was invented in Egypt around 2,200 BC, but the Chinese created the modern-like version of paper around 105 AD (Ray). The ...

    Read More

  • Han Dynasty Inventions

    920 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cai Lun was a eunuch of the Imperial Court. He created the new paper from bamboo fibers and the inner bark of a mulberry tree. Cai Lun added water to the bamboo fibers and the inner bark of a mulberry tree . Then he pounded them using a wooden tool. “When they were pounded thoroughly, he poured the whole mixture over a flat woven cloth letting the water drain out.” Only the fibers remained when it dried which helped Cai Lun conclude this material was a good writing surface and lightweight. Another discovery he made was the paper he created was easy to make. This led to Cai Lun experimenting with other materials. The other materials he experimented with were remnants or hemp, fishnets, and linen rags. The reason for finding other material to create paper with was the fact that before Cai Lun invented paper writing surfaces were made from bones, bamboo slips, wooden boards, and tortoise shells. “These things are not only heavy but they also took up a lot of space and are hard to carry around.” This

    Read More

  • Plastic Vs Plastic Essay

    1001 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since paper bag manufacturing requires the use of a large amount of wood. That could lead to deforestation, loss of animal habitats, soil erosion and increase of temperature in the atmosphere. When people do think about the pros and cons of the type of bag, they are usually limited to thinking about cost and ease in use. Plastic bags are cheaper to make by 85 percent than paper bags, and they are also much lighter and can carry up to 1000 times their weight. This is not the true cost that comes along with the production of plastic bags though, the true cost is our health and environment. Plastic bags require 1.62 lbs. of petroleum to make a thousand bags (Interplase.com, 2015). Petroleum is not only a scarce source of nonrenewable energy, but its thermal capacity escalates the greenhouse effect, making our atmosphere unwantedly warmer. When paper bags are deposited into the environment, wither on water or on land, it takes very little time to degrade and leaves no harmful trace, while plastic breaks apart but does not disappear and slowly accumulates in soil. This delays the uptake of water by plants and many land animals to choke and die on it. Though plastic bags may be much more appropriate in its strength, looks and cost. On the contrary, lives should be a priority over money and

    Read More

  • Paperclip Essay

    1467 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The first patent for a bent wire paper clip was awarded in the United States to Samuel B. Fay, in 1867. The clip was intended to just attach tickets to fabric, but soon discovered that it can attach papers together.” “The most modern paperclip was invented and patented by William D. Middlebrook in 1899. William didn’t just invent the paperclip, he also invented the machine that makes them.” Mr. Middlebrook’s patent was bought by a manufacturing company,

    Read More

  • Water Pollution: Plastic in the Ocean

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ironically, plastic, which is a material designed to last forever, is generally used for things we tend to throw away. Every year, about one hundred to two hundred billion pounds of plastic are manufactured. Only 31% of that plastic is actually recycled. Biomass packaging estimates 10% of that plastic ends up in the ocean annually. About 20% of it coming from ships and other platforms, and the other 80% coming from land derived sources, such as international garbage dumping, winds or tides, either way it finds its way to the ocean.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Recycling

    1940 Words  | 4 Pages

    When most people hear the word recycling they think of plastic water bottles, milk jugs, or even old paper that they can reuse, but this is not necessarily the case anymore. Scientists and researchers have discovered a new form of recycling that is going to help better the environment and it can even help make people money! Smokers around the world do not think about recycling their used cigarette butts, but this new form of recycling has changed some of their minds on this subject. Recycling has been a major environmental issue, but most people have forgotten about it or they just do not care for it anymore. Paper recycling dates back to as far as 400 B.C. Some people even say that the early Romans recycled their bronze coins so that they

    Read More

  • Plastic Pollution and its Consequences

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... converting plastic waste into useful products are being affected by pollution; this contamination is found within containers where plastics are collected. But the same risk of pollution carries downside consequences in which workers and people responsible for cleaning and disinfecting the plastic materials are not doing the best to eliminate plastic waste, and to disinfect the infected bacteria and microorganisms from the atmosphere and environment. Organizations from China and India are the largest in the world, they collect and purchase used plastic from United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America (Minguez 2013). These companies do not bother to sanitize the products before the recycling process; for this reason the planet earth is getting a worse environmental condition, and it is destroying lives of living beings, and natural resources as well (Uddin 2014).

    Read More

  • Cailun's Invention In Ancient China

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Ma, L. (2016) around 100 BC, The Han Dynasty is the time were the first paper is invented, the first paper is invented by a government official and his name is CaiLun and he is known to be the “Father of Papers”. With his invention,

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Plastic Bags

    1499 Words  | 3 Pages

    Plastic or paper, is a choice that people face when going to the grocery stores. Plastic bags are often the choice that is made. A controversial issue in the world today is the use of plastic bags. Plastic bags are used because of the convenience they give, by being able to carry several items at once. However, in the article, “Banning Bans, Not Bags”, Jennifer Schultz claims, “Plastic bags clog up local waterways, litter roadways, and get swallowed up by unsuspecting fish” (6). Plastic bags are used once, then are discarded or, littered all over the place. When they are littered all over they become problems for more than just humans. These plastic bags pose a big hazard for animals on land and in especially the ocean. Humans eat land and

    Read More

  • Plastic Bags

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    Millions of plastic bags are given out to consumers by supermarkets and stores to carry their goods in. They are also cheap, light, durable, easy to carry and in many cases, free. The most commonly used shopping bag is made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). This type is used in the majority of supermarkets and stores. After these bags are used, they often end up in landfills or as litter, roughly only three percent of plastic bags is actually recycled per year (Planet Ark, 2011). The materials used in making plastic bags make them non-biodegradable. According to the science dictionary, 2011 refers to “these materials cannot be decomposed into environmentally safe waste materials by the action of soil bacteria.” These harmful substances are toxic and take approximately four hundred years to break down, or in this case photo-degrade; which is how plastics made from (HDPE) break down. Since they are not biodegradable, they remain in the environment and are absorbed in soil or water (Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment, 2010). This essay will discuss the various harmful effects of plastic bags, and demonstrate the risks that these bags impose on humans, animals and the environment. It will also discuss a series of suggested solutions that could help reduce plastic bag usage.

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Paper And Plastic

    927 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyone has heard a cashier one time or another mumble, “Paper or plastic?” as he put their groceries in a bag, but do shoppers know the effects of each vessel in which they carry their comestibles? There are many issues and benefits to both paper and plastic. The making and recycling of both paper and plastic bags can harm the environment. One must also look at the costs of making each bag. The convenience of each is also something to look at. Many people jump to conclusion that paper bags are better for the environment without knowing the facts. Since plastic bags are preferred by customers and plastic bags actually do not hurt the environment as much as paper ones do, consumers should feel at ease when choosing plastic.

    Read More

  • Essays On Recycling

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Do you hate seeing litter on the streets, or seeing and smelling heaps of garbage sitting, and rotting away? Humans recycling more will help to reduce this. We throw many things that can be recycled. Recycling glass, plastics, paper, and metals will reduce solid waste dumped into the ecosystem daily. “96 percent of U.S. plastic, and 50 percent of its paper, goes into landfills. Mexico, not exactly a bastion of environmental awareness, recycles more glass than the U.S.” (Alice Horrigan 1). That’s 96 percent of the millions of tons of plastic, which will outlive most of us in a landfill that we could recycle and keep it out of our landfill. Paper is made from trees, if we recycle it, we can decrease our rate of ugly deforestation and the destruction of animal habitats. When paper gets to the landfill, it is guaranteed to get wet. The wetness and decomposition of paper atracts mold spores, which produce an odor and are potentially bad for your health. Also k...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Speech On Recycling Plastic

    1157 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 1870’s, plastic was discovered in the United States when John Wesley Hyatt was trying to create a different material to make billiard balls (Manrich, 3). Little did he know it would majorly evolve into material we use everyday. However, plastics are now taking over our landfills. The average American throws away one-hundred and eighty-five pounds of plastic a year (Popescu, 121). The answer to decrease this statistic is easy: recycling. I believe that recycling will help eliminate littering and the growth of landfills, while also creating jobs for the unemployed. Not only does recycling plastic help eliminate littering, but also reuses the plastic so there is not a production of additional unneeded plastics. The

    Read More

More about Alexander Parkers and The Creation of Plastic

Open Document