Accumulation: The Material Politics of Plastic
-Parkesine: presented by Alexander Parkes in 1862
-Celluloid: manufactured by John Wesley and Isaiah Hyatt in 1870s
-Both Parkensine and Celluloid were promoted as alternatives to solid materials. Lightness and versatility. Celluloid was described as “Chameleon Material” used to make combs, buttons, collars, cuffs, and billiard balls.
-In Aerostatalian times, it was seen as Barbaric to own multifunctional instruments. It was preferred to use single-use.
-Success of plastics came about thanks to marketing which promoted them as materials of “protean adaptability”.
-The democratization of material goods began in the 1930s, “a plastic a day keeps the depression away”
-Engineers had to give up the traditional linear approach to innovation and convert to “materials thinking” which has played a crucial part in the emergence of new relationships with materials and matter in general.
-Materials thinking: a new method of design that takes into account all parameters simultaneously rather than sequentially
-Materials are no longer a prerequisite for the design of artifacts, and would no longer limit our possibilities of creation.
Outsmart Waste: Chapter 7 The Science of recycling
-During the Industrial Revolution, the need for metals was enormous, and metal recycling was in full force.
-It takes about 95 percent less energy to recycle metals, such as aluminum, than it does to produce virgin metal.
-Only about 5 percent of plastics in the US are being recycled.
-7 Categories of Plastics:
#1 (PET) Polyethylene terephthalate- clear in color, soda bottle, most recycled plastic in the world
#2 (HDPE) High-density polyethylene is used in everything from water pipes to milk jugs, second-most recycled plastic in the world
#3 (PVC) Polyvinyl chloride is used in plumbing pipes, blister packs, and vinyl records, not used in food packaging because it is toxic, negative impact on environment and health
#4 (PE-LD) Low-density polyethylene is in frozen food bags and squeezable bottles of ketchup and mustard
#5 (PP) Polypropylene is used in packaging for yogurt, margarine, and other disposable cups and cutlery, very limited recycling but is growing slowly
#6 (PS) Polystyrene is used in disposable razors, cd jewel cases, similar to #5
#7 (Other) Contact lenses to DVDs, no one really knows what it is
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