I Hate Plastic Bags 

What a year 2019 was for the plastic industry!

The plastic industry was pounded from start to finish for being the reason for all of the earth's problems.  Some of it was justified, and some of it was not, but regardless it took a beating.  Retailers demanded more eco friendly options but there weren't many to choose from.  Consumers said they would pay more for compostable and biodegradable options until they became aware that what options were out there wouldn't protect or keep the contents of whatever they were buying fresh beyond a week or two in most cases.  Even more, those same consumers didn't necessarily want to pay double or triple the cost for a more environmentally friendly packaging option.

But all hope wasn't and isn't lost.  There have been advancements.  There have also been glaring issues pertaining to how recycling is done, what can biodegrade naturally or with the help of an additive like PLA and if that additive actually makes things worse.  It's also become evident that each community recycles differently and until we all follow a common system we will continue to have these roadblocks to real progress.

Speaking of progress, we can have all the compostable and biodegradable materials out there but until we start investing in and developing large, industrial size ways to do biodegrade trash (besides a backyard homemade system) this is going nowhere fast.  To be clear, we all want the same thing but in order for anything to biodegrade and break down it needs to be exposed to air and sunlight.  Unfortunately we don't have the ability to expose rotting garbage to air and sunlight for long periods of time because...garbage smells...and unless you want to breathe that in 24-7 and smell it too... one of the first things to happen at landfills when garbage arrives is it gets buried.

We can put a man on the moon, I know we can find alternative ways to recycle, to compost and break down garbage.  Even better we can find a way to capture that energy and use it for good.  One can only hope.

Enjoy a recap of some of the year's most innovative and eco-friendly discoveries.  This is part of a much broader eBook.  Click here for more info.