In 1863, humorist Artemus Ward wrote a satire on hucksterism, making up a tale of Abe Lincoln being asked to endorse a piece of quackery about spiritualism. Not wanting to offend, the Lincoln character slyly offers non-committal praise: “Well for people who like that kind of thing, I think that is just about the kind of thing they’d like.”
Replacing single-use plastics with recyclable materials is not simple. The names of synthetic plastics often begin with poly and that's followed by the name of the chemicals that get polymerized to make the plastic. Things like vinyl chloride, ethylene, acrylonitrile, etc. They have different properties and need to be recycled in different ways. You can burn polyethylene, but need to add high efficiency scrubbers to burn polyvinyl chloride. We also layer plastics with print or metals that may make recycling much more difficult. Cork and hemp are possible alternatives to some of the synthetic single-use plastics.
Our financialized society under a corrupt government cannot bring the parties together to develop the economic and technological countermeasures to deal with plastic pollution. The parties include plastics manufacturers, packagers (that's most manufacturer), packaging engineers, retailers (supermarkets and merchants), shippers, recyclers, and consumers. That's just about everybody. But it has to be done. We need a government that's not controlled by polluters to make that happen.
That all sounds fine and dandy. However, we know that a lot of our paper products and clothes could be made from hemp fiber and bamboo. Bamboo virtually grows like a weed and so does hemp. Both of these are renewable crops and hemp gives the added value of cleansing the soil as it grows plus it never needs pesticides. As for bamboo, it is already being used extensively by a few companies to make several products from reusable paper towels and other things.
I suggest we promote all of the options there are and any new renewable sources that may come into being.
I have to write this because I know this subject. I did see the Cork trees in N. Portugal. The most stupendous Trees/huge. They were cut down to plant Eucalyptus forests. Which generate fires.
I don't know what the Portuguese Govt. thought they were doing BUT it is/was a disaster.
Families who owned Cork trees knew exactly what they were doing.
When you strip a Cork tree of it's bark it takes 9yrs for the bark to grow back and nourish the trees. The local farmers were put out of business!
People did NOT care .EVERY time I see 'local' Farmers being put out of business it is because a new 'hair-brained' scheme by the Govt.
Meanwhile in France we are collectively (Farmers) re-doubling our efforts to take money away from BIG corporations. It's not easy because many of the local farmers get lost in the plot.
BIG farmers have money.
Small farmers do not.
Where is the US and what are they doing to protect small farmers.
Some time ago Monsanto was chucked out of France. Big Farmers were using this nasty weed killer on their crops.
IF you were a small farmer and the wind decided to go in the wrong direction you could not be classed as Bioloigical.
We lived in a house with 45 Olive trees. Every Winter October/November we picked the Olives with aching cold fingers.
When we got to the Co-operative where are Olives were checked/weighed etc.
We found that we were not Biological.
AOC (Appalation Controlee) A term used in France for REAL biological control.
We found out that the Farmer next to us was using/spraying insecticides next to our trees.
In the region where we live (close to the Rhone) we have very high winds.
I agree with AOC.
Our Olives brought in a tidy sum of money but IF you go to a MILL (Co-operative) and you taste the Olive Oil produced by farmers within the AOC it's like drinking CREAM.
Thank you for sharing this interesting bit of information. Yes, mother earth has so many resources and lessons that very few would understand, or care to.
The only problem with cork is that it comes from a tree, and trees take a long time to grow and lots of space.
Plastics made from cornstarch, algae and whatnot do exist. And of course they used to get rubber from rubber trees before they started making it from oil. A lot of modern rubber is not poly-isoprene like natural rubber. It's made of mixed copolymers, with chlorinated monomers, etc, for durability, fire resistance, chemical resistance, etc.
I kind of think we have to re-think the whole system, the whole culture, not just replace plastic foam with cork (if we can) or cotton with hemp. Not saying these are bad things! But the problem runs far deeper. Greed? Conspicuous consumption? Obsession with what others think of us? We have out-and-out TRAITORS- you can't call them anything else- in the Congress and on the Supreme Court, a President who does not have the steel in his spine to deal with them as traitors must be dealt with, one Party taken over by straight-up Fascists and one more concerned with pronouns and useless gun laws than with saving the Republic. it's almost like a national suicide pact.
Use glass containers (canning jars as well as jars that pickles and other foods come in at the grocery market) to store leftovers and non leftovers. Food store in glass remains fresh much longer than food stuck in plastic bags. I don’t know if the cork producers can keep up with the main problem ….too many people.
Unfortunately, it takes 9 years to renew the cork harvested and as cork becomes more popular it will mean more aggressive harvesting of the cork trees already here. I think of the palm oil plantations that have taken over where rain forrest once stood. If the source cannot keep up with the demand, what will the producers try to do. How long does it take to produce a cork tree?
Mother Nature gives us many alternatives to plastic like bamboo, cork, hemp. Let's get governments at every level putting $$$ into Research and Development (R&D) into this budding economy, beginning with the federal government. Let's lead the world in innovation to minimize or eliminate entirely our addiction to plastic.
Great information presented here! Who would have thought cork? I've been thinking peanuts might also be made into plastic. I remember that George Washington Carver developed many materials out of peanuts.
What it can't yet do - or never? - is replace the ubiquitus plastic shopping bag, bottles, plastic wear, etc. A multifaceted solution is required to replace pastic. I'm not smart enough to figure that out. But Gordon Miller seems to no his way around plastics!
Replacing single-use plastics with recyclable materials is not simple. The names of synthetic plastics often begin with poly and that's followed by the name of the chemicals that get polymerized to make the plastic. Things like vinyl chloride, ethylene, acrylonitrile, etc. They have different properties and need to be recycled in different ways. You can burn polyethylene, but need to add high efficiency scrubbers to burn polyvinyl chloride. We also layer plastics with print or metals that may make recycling much more difficult. Cork and hemp are possible alternatives to some of the synthetic single-use plastics.
Our financialized society under a corrupt government cannot bring the parties together to develop the economic and technological countermeasures to deal with plastic pollution. The parties include plastics manufacturers, packagers (that's most manufacturer), packaging engineers, retailers (supermarkets and merchants), shippers, recyclers, and consumers. That's just about everybody. But it has to be done. We need a government that's not controlled by polluters to make that happen.
Sounds like a good time to finally tell the politicians on the take with big plastic to put a cork in it. :)
That all sounds fine and dandy. However, we know that a lot of our paper products and clothes could be made from hemp fiber and bamboo. Bamboo virtually grows like a weed and so does hemp. Both of these are renewable crops and hemp gives the added value of cleansing the soil as it grows plus it never needs pesticides. As for bamboo, it is already being used extensively by a few companies to make several products from reusable paper towels and other things.
I suggest we promote all of the options there are and any new renewable sources that may come into being.
We are using cork flooring for our kitchen
I have to write this because I know this subject. I did see the Cork trees in N. Portugal. The most stupendous Trees/huge. They were cut down to plant Eucalyptus forests. Which generate fires.
I don't know what the Portuguese Govt. thought they were doing BUT it is/was a disaster.
Families who owned Cork trees knew exactly what they were doing.
When you strip a Cork tree of it's bark it takes 9yrs for the bark to grow back and nourish the trees. The local farmers were put out of business!
People did NOT care .EVERY time I see 'local' Farmers being put out of business it is because a new 'hair-brained' scheme by the Govt.
Meanwhile in France we are collectively (Farmers) re-doubling our efforts to take money away from BIG corporations. It's not easy because many of the local farmers get lost in the plot.
BIG farmers have money.
Small farmers do not.
Where is the US and what are they doing to protect small farmers.
Some time ago Monsanto was chucked out of France. Big Farmers were using this nasty weed killer on their crops.
IF you were a small farmer and the wind decided to go in the wrong direction you could not be classed as Bioloigical.
We lived in a house with 45 Olive trees. Every Winter October/November we picked the Olives with aching cold fingers.
When we got to the Co-operative where are Olives were checked/weighed etc.
We found that we were not Biological.
AOC (Appalation Controlee) A term used in France for REAL biological control.
We found out that the Farmer next to us was using/spraying insecticides next to our trees.
In the region where we live (close to the Rhone) we have very high winds.
I agree with AOC.
Our Olives brought in a tidy sum of money but IF you go to a MILL (Co-operative) and you taste the Olive Oil produced by farmers within the AOC it's like drinking CREAM.
Thank you for sharing this interesting bit of information. Yes, mother earth has so many resources and lessons that very few would understand, or care to.
The only problem with cork is that it comes from a tree, and trees take a long time to grow and lots of space.
Plastics made from cornstarch, algae and whatnot do exist. And of course they used to get rubber from rubber trees before they started making it from oil. A lot of modern rubber is not poly-isoprene like natural rubber. It's made of mixed copolymers, with chlorinated monomers, etc, for durability, fire resistance, chemical resistance, etc.
I kind of think we have to re-think the whole system, the whole culture, not just replace plastic foam with cork (if we can) or cotton with hemp. Not saying these are bad things! But the problem runs far deeper. Greed? Conspicuous consumption? Obsession with what others think of us? We have out-and-out TRAITORS- you can't call them anything else- in the Congress and on the Supreme Court, a President who does not have the steel in his spine to deal with them as traitors must be dealt with, one Party taken over by straight-up Fascists and one more concerned with pronouns and useless gun laws than with saving the Republic. it's almost like a national suicide pact.
Use glass containers (canning jars as well as jars that pickles and other foods come in at the grocery market) to store leftovers and non leftovers. Food store in glass remains fresh much longer than food stuck in plastic bags. I don’t know if the cork producers can keep up with the main problem ….too many people.
Unfortunately, it takes 9 years to renew the cork harvested and as cork becomes more popular it will mean more aggressive harvesting of the cork trees already here. I think of the palm oil plantations that have taken over where rain forrest once stood. If the source cannot keep up with the demand, what will the producers try to do. How long does it take to produce a cork tree?
Mother Nature gives us many alternatives to plastic like bamboo, cork, hemp. Let's get governments at every level putting $$$ into Research and Development (R&D) into this budding economy, beginning with the federal government. Let's lead the world in innovation to minimize or eliminate entirely our addiction to plastic.
Hmmm.....kind of like Hemp..................................
Great information presented here! Who would have thought cork? I've been thinking peanuts might also be made into plastic. I remember that George Washington Carver developed many materials out of peanuts.
Even cork is being replaced to cap wine bottles. Humans never seem to learn.
Nice thought, but...
What it can't yet do - or never? - is replace the ubiquitus plastic shopping bag, bottles, plastic wear, etc. A multifaceted solution is required to replace pastic. I'm not smart enough to figure that out. But Gordon Miller seems to no his way around plastics!
1) Glass is a big one
2) Use biodegradable resins
3) Plastic recycling is a joke - you can recycle if it is the right type, uncontaminated, and a facility is nearby (yeah, right).
4) Cellophane
5) Wax paper
Jim, how about a similar article about hemp?