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I really don't like plastic. I prefer to avoid it for any purchase where there is a practical non-plastic alternative. But, I have to say, if we had a bacteri
by rossdavidh 4y ago
I really don't like plastic. I prefer to avoid it for any purchase where there is a practical non-plastic alternative. But, I have to say, if we had a bacteria that could rapidly digest most plastics, and spread "in the wild", it could have some catastrophic effects on our world's economy. Imagine everything in the public infrastructure that uses plastic, rotting within a year's time. It could be apocalyptic.
- trashtester 4y agoIt would create a lot of tech jobs, though, as almost EVERYTHING needs to be re-invented.
- kwonkicker 4y agoEasy. Invent a resilient plastic that the microbes don't like to chew. And start counting the money untill that plastic becomes the problem.
- delecti 4y agoWood biodegrades, and yet we still build houses out of wood. It's not that wood rot is never a problem, but it's far from apocalyptic. There is certainly a lot of possibility for bad outcomes, but it seems the potential upsides outweigh them. Wood furniture continues to be a durable option, and well-stored plastic likely would too.
- rossdavidh 4y agoIt isn't necessarily apocalyptic, but we do a lot of things to address wood biodegrading. Paint, arsenic-impregnated wood, etc. If we didn't have any such measures, our use of wood would quickly be a problem. Also, a lot of current uses of plastic have a built-in assumption that they don't degrade. We could adapt, sure, but it would be quite disruptive, and a lot of current uses would need to be changed/replaced.