NewsPronto

 
Men's Weekly

.

USA Conversation

The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

Bio-based plastics can reduce waste, but only if we invest in both making and getting rid of them

  • Written by Danny Ducat, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University
Food packaging is one of the top uses for plastic in consumer goods.BravissimoS

With news that companies like Starbucks, Hyatt and Marriott have agreed to ban plastic straws, it’s a fitting time to consider the role of plastic in our daily lives. Plastics are an often overlooked modern wonder – cheap and multipurpose substances that can...

Read more: Bio-based plastics can reduce waste, but only if we invest in both making and getting rid of them

More Articles ...

  1. I went from prison to professor – here's why criminal records should not be used to keep people out of college
  2. Scientists are developing greener plastics – the bigger challenge is moving them from lab to market
  3. Cameras can catch cars that run red lights, but that doesn't make streets safer
  4. Overcoming vaccination myths: Could addressing the facts during prenatal visits help?
  5. Dutch Memorial Day: Erasing people after death
  6. Small business owners are getting a new incentive to sell to their employees
  7. Why Jewish giving to Israel is losing ground
  8. As a young reporter, I went undercover to expose the Ku Klux Klan
  9. Following Alfred Russel Wallace's footsteps to Borneo, where he penned his seminal evolution paper
  10. Finding nostalgia in the pixelated video games of decades past
  11. Cuatro cosas que puedes hacer para protegerte de la gripe
  12. ¿Por qué los abogados representan a los immigrantes de manera gratuita?
  13. Short-term health plans: A junk solution to a real problem
  14. A Texas city discovered a mass grave of prison laborers. What should it do with the bodies?
  15. Keeping the electricity grid running – 4 essential reads
  16. What Harvard can learn from Texas: A solution to the controversy over affirmative action
  17. From slag to swag: The story of Earl Tupper's fantastic plastics
  18. Why Native Americans struggle to protect their sacred places
  19. How the media falls short in reporting epidemics
  20. Wildfires are inevitable – increasing home losses, fatalities and costs are not
  21. We are guinea pigs in a worldwide experiment on microplastics
  22. ¿Las noticias te estresan? Estas 4 técnicas de entrenamiento mental te ayudarán a calmar el cerebro
  23. ¿Las noticias te estresan? Estas cuatro técnicas de entrenamiento mental te ayudarán a calmar el cerebro
  24. Designed to deceive: How gambling distorts reality and hooks your brain
  25. Immigration activists fighting to abolish ICE have a bigger vision
  26. Saudi women can drive, but are their voices being heard?
  27. The promise of personalized medicine is not for everyone 
  28. Obesity and diabetes: 2 reasons why we should be worried about the plastics that surround us
  29. A socialist's primary win doesn't herald a workers revolution in the US
  30. The start of high school doesn't have to be stressful
  31. America has 1.5 million nonprofits and room for more
  32. The ghost of Roy Orbison goes on tour – and some aren't happy about it
  33. Walmart tried to make sustainability affordable. Here's what happened
  34. Jury finds Monsanto liable in the first Roundup cancer trial – here's what could happen next
  35. ¿Por qué nuestro cerebro siempre encuentra problemas?
  36. How 'story maps' redraw the world using people's real-life experiences
  37. Profit, not free speech, governs media companies' decisions on controversy
  38. Apple's $1 trillion value doesn't mean it's the 'biggest' company
  39. Why Trump shouldn't leverage the government's emergency oil supply to bolster the GOP
  40. What is causing Florida's algae crisis? 5 questions answered
  41. Climate change and wildfires – how do we know if there is a link?
  42. From breast implants to ice cube trays: How silicone took over our kitchens
  43. Flip a switch and shut down seizures? New research suggests how to turn off out-of-control signaling in the brain
  44. Argentina rejects legal abortion — and not all Catholics are celebrating
  45. Heat and Light: Trailer
  46. 5 autores latinos que merecen ser leídos
  47. For universities, making the case for diversity is part of making amends for racist past
  48. How the federal government came to control your car's fuel economy
  49. The case for boosting WNBA player salaries
  50. The world of plastics, in numbers