Could Plastic Be the Saving Grace to the Environment Rather Than One of Its Downfalls?- Ryan McEllen

    Climate change remains an issue for all life on Earth and has only been getting worse everyday. The omission of natural gasses, such as carbon dioxide, into the atmosphere has altered the environment and caused the world's temperature to rise. Human's have had the most influence in this global warming by burning fossil fuels and releasing high quantities of carbon dioxide into the air. Although people are the real destroying factors in the environment, today, many are trying to resolve this conflict and save mother Earth. Håkan Nordin, a former climate activist who co-founded the Swedish branch of Greenpeace, is one who believes that a potential solution to climate change could be plastic.

    This very idea contradicts what most humans have learned from when they were young, that plastic is harmful to the environment. This is because plastic is non-biodegradable, so it takes thousands of years to decompose and it is essentially polluting the planet. I personally remember Earth Day, when I was in 5th grade, and we had a whole discussion about plastic, and how long it takes to be naturally destroyed. But Nordin sees past plastic's inability to decompose and instead focuses on its potential to help stop climate change.

    In the article "Plastic is 'part of the solution' to climate change says Bolon's head of sustainability" posted on deneez.com, Nordin explains how plastic is a wonderful material that can be used for a number of things. A special type of plastic, construction plastic which is used for long term products, can replace other materials including steel to better the environment. The reason why construction plastic is more planet-friendly compared to other building materials, such as steel, is because it doesn't take as much energy to manufacture. In order to get energy, industries burn fossil fuels and end up releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The article includes a comparison between the melting temperatures of steel and types of plastic explaining, "Steel... needs to be heated to around 1,000 degrees Celsius before it can be forged, whereas lightweight thermoplastics can be molded at around 200 degrees." Since plastic melts at a lower temperature than metals, less energy, and therefore less omission of carbon dioxide, is involved in the formation of the material. This furthermore explains the efficiency of using construction plastic, which is strong and lightweight, compared to other typical materials in manufacturing that have a greater negative impact on the environment.

    Nordin also reveals in the article that plastic not only requires less energy to form, but it additionally has circular principles, making it cheaper to create and longer lasting. Plastic can be made out of oil, gasses, and coal, and the process of creation doesn't burn fossil fuels. Also, even though this material isn't biodegradable, it can be recycled and reused more easily than metals. Lastly, plastic can even help the world make use of other energy sources, like wind energy, instead of burning fossil fuels. The most efficient wind turbine farms use plastic turbine blades, allowing clean energy to be harvested and used without negatively impacting the environment.

    Looking at plastic's values and capabilities, rather than its downsides, can truly impact future generations and the well being of the world as a whole. This material is the key to innovation and part of the solution for climate change. Plainly stated by Nordin, "The problem comes when we set fire to oil and gas... If we don't set fire to oil and gas, we don't have any climate change," and this is exactly what's prevented by taking advantage of plastic. Who would have thought that something so dangerous to the environment could be a huge factor in saving it in the long run. A life changing example of irony at its finest.

Work Cited

Fairs, Marcus. “Plastic Is ‘Part of the Solution’ to Climate Change Says Bolon's Head of Sustainability.” Dezeen, 26 Oct. 2020, www.dezeen.com/2020/10/26/plastic-solution-climate-change-bolons-head-sustainability/.