bioplastics

To me, bioplastics sounds a lot like biofuels -- maybe a good idea or maybe just a tech fix that will have merciless repercussions in the near future.

A tech fix is the process of solving a problem with a technological invention only to have that fix create an entirely new problem that now, again, needs to be fixed. Tech fix is often based on industry and usually lacks a holistic approach to problem solving.

Plastics though were originally made from bio or organic materials. The strictly chemical, petroleum based polymer strands of today are a relatively new invention.

Bioplastics are long strings of polymers made from soybeans, cornstarch, and potatoes. The first plastics were made from cellulose -- pure vegetable fiber. The great US advocate of rubber & plastic -- Henry Ford -- made plastics from soybeans.

So when we see natural food stores busting out the corn-based plastic fad, we know that this is not new science. It is just a convenient time for them to be green.

In the end, will it be a better solution than petroleum based plastic products -- especially one time use plastic products? Maybe. My instinct is to say - Of Course! But I wonder, what will happen when we try to replace the existing plastic reality with corn-based reality (not to mention gas with ethanol)? That is a lot of farm land, that is a lot of food going into the landfills instead of peoples' bellies.

The sheer volume of food being used in such a way makes me recoil and long for a simple juicy butter dripping bite of corn-on-the-cob.

Dreaming of yummy corn does not move us toward a solution. How can anything move us? When the density of consumption is at max capacity and creates a situation where nothing can be done to replace all the plastic we use. Nothing is reasonable or good in that large a quantity -- not corn, not cotton cloth, not glass jars, nothing.

Really, I think, we all know what we have to do -- and it's not making everything out of soybeans -- it's just that most of us aren't ready to admit it.