#58: Plastic
English Learning for Curious Minds
00:00
Throw Away Plastic
The first plastic was actually plant-based. It wasn't until the mid-20th century that plastic would start to really rise in popularity. Cheap hydrocarbons, cheap petrol, had meant that the process to make plastic had become a lot cheaper and quicker. The economic boom of the post-war years meant that consumers were ready for a world filled with plastic. This new revolutionary plastic was often advertised as to be thrown away as soon as it was used. You can throw away as much plastic as you like, but there are consequences, and those consequences are quite serious. Estimates about how long plastic takes to biodegrade range from 450 years to never.
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