In 2008 I spent the night drinking and playing cards with a one-time NFL football player before crashing on the floor of the bar car. This time around, things have been much more mellow, whether through the ubiquitous vortex of i-devices or the advancement of ad guy age.
Thus, I had time to read ‘Plastics, A Toxic Love Story’ by Susan Freinkel (on my plastic and probably somewhat toxic iPad)


This book answered many of the questions I have always had about plastic. Like where it comes from (waste products from oil production, plant sources, etc) what makes a plastic biodegradable (some petro plastics are, some bio plastics, not) and just how darn much of the stuff we produce (six hundred billion pounds a year!)
As the train ambled through the lush forests if Oregon, Freinkel took me through the history of plastic all the way to modern day developments in polymers generated by microorganisms. Along the way she examines the process and role of recycling, and even travels to the heart of a toy factory in rural China to look at working conditions there. The whole book begins with the author doing an audit of every piece of plastic she touches in a day. Try that yourself and you’ll soon see why this should be required reading for every modern consumer.
So now I am looking at the Amtrak ‘Greenware’ plant cup in a new way. At least the whiskey inside is completely biodegradable.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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