Plastic Bottles
Most bottles of water were made using glass, clay, or wood. As a
result, the bottles were easily broken. If the bottle was broken, then the
broken pieces can hurt lots of people. For example, if a person fell down
where a glass bottle had been broken before, then that person would get hurt.
Also, bottles made of clay or stones could be heavy for some people to carry
around. To make or buy a glass bottle would cost a bit more that some people
are willing to pay, which is why people wanted a solution.
To solve this problem, scientists founded plastics. Plastics are
“Synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids.” (What is Plastics) They are
polymers that are made from long molecule chains that are called monomers.
There are two kinds of plastics, thermosetting plastics and thermoplastics.
Thermoplastics are plastics that can be heated and melted to form products,
then heated again and again. Thermosetting plastics, though, are plastics that
can be molten and formed into products, but once solidified, it cannot be
melted again. (What are Plastics) Plastic bottles are thermoplastic, which
means that they could be recycled.
There are lots of benefits of using plastic bottles instead of glass
bottles. One benefit can be that plastic bottles are shatterproof. This means
that if it falls on the floor it will not break into millions of pieces like glass
bottles. If you had a glass bottle, you would be very careful of not dropping it
so that no one would get hurt, and so you won’t need to clean up the glass
shards. This will not happen with a plastic bottle; you can take it anywhere
with you in any way without being afraid of breaking it and hurting someone
(or hurting yourself). (Kennedy, David)
Another benefit of using plastic bottles is that it is transparent. Wooden
and clay bottles are not transparent, so you can’t exactly see what is inside
the bottle. The problem is, if you use wooden or clay bottles, anything could
fall into the water without you knowing and you would drink it without knowing.
With plastic bottles, you could see what is inside the bottle easily because it is
transparent. This also means that you won’t keep trying to look inside the
bottle through the cap all the time to make sure that the water (or whatever is
inside the bottle) is clean to drink. (Kennedy, David)
There are lots of limitations of using plastic bottles. The main limitation
is the amount of time plastic bottles need to decompose. A normal plastic
bottle would take at least 500 years to decompose. Different kinds of plastics
take different times to decompose, and so some plastic bottles might take
longer than others. Plastic bottles, since they are used a lot, fill landfills and
stay there for long times. Recycling would be a solution to this issue, but not a
lot of people recycle the plastic bottles they drink from. (Pot, Justin)
Another limitation of using plastic bottles is that they are made from
non-renewable materials. Plastic bottles are made from oil and natural gas,
both that are non-renewable. Non-renewable materials are things that would
go away forever, basically, they would finish. A lot of people are using plastic
bottles, which means they are using a product of natural gas that could have
been heating a house or used for cooking. (Baid, Pankaj)
Plastic bottles affect the environment a lot. As I said before, plastic
bottles almost always end up thrown away into trash bins, which are then
taken to landfills. In landfills, the plastic bottles would eventually be buried
beneath the ground and lots of other waste products. As time goes, the
chemicals in the plastic bottles can get out into the soil. This means that the
soil might get contaminated with these toxic substances. Of course, plants
won’t be able to grow easily if the soil is affected. If the toxic substances
reached the groundwater, then it will also be contaminated. (Flint, Deyanda)
Plastic bottles interact economically. First thing, plastic bottles are
cheaper than glass or other bottles. This is because they are easier to shape
and form, easier to make, and so cheaper to buy. Also, since plastic bottles
don’t break when dropped or corrode, anyone could reuse the same bottle
more than once instead of buying a new one. This saves lots of money if you
use a glass bottle and break it a lot. (Kennedy, David)
Works Cited
Baid, Pankaj. "Plastics Disadvantages & Recycling." Plastics Disadvantages &
Recycling. Slideshare.net, 26 Sept. 2009. Web. 27 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.slideshare.net/pankajbaid17/plastics-disadvantagesrecycling>. slide 7
Flint, Deyanda. "Negative Effects of Plastic Bottles on the Environment." EHow.
Demand Media, 27 Jan. 2010. Web. 27 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.ehow.com/list_5928854_negative-effects-plastic-bottlesenvironment.html>.
Kennedy, David. "The Advantages of Plastic Bottles." EHow. Demand Media, 17
July 2009. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.ehow.com/about_5188381_advantages-plasticbottles.html>.
"Plastic Pros and Cons." Natural Health & Wellness Information & Recipes. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.alive.com/articles/view/21832/plastic_pros_and_cons>.
Pot, Justin H. "The Disadvantages of Plastic Bottles." EHow. Demand Media, 13
Aug. 2009. Web. 27 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.ehow.com/about_5300862_disadvantages-plasticbottles.html>.
"What Are Plastics?" What Are Plastics? N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.thegeekcity.com/what_are_plastics/>.
"What Is Plastic?" PlasticsEurope. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.
<http://www.plasticseurope.org/what-is-plastic.aspx>.