Photo credit:
lightspring, flickr
We are so done with plastic. Except we're not really done with it. We just can't quite let go. Its very plasticness makes it handy to mold easily into different shapes for zillions of uses. So what if our plastic wasn't actually made of what we hate about plastic—oil? What if our plastic was really ... wood?
Meet lignin. Lignin is a by-product of the paper manufacturing process, which currently goes to waste and is burned. Sacrilege! A German company, Tecnaro, has developed a "liquid wood" it calls Arboform (arbo = tree, form = well, form) that's made of lignin mixed with eco-friendly natural fibers like hemp and flax, and which can be formed into shapes of all kinds on regular existing plastics-molding machines. So your TV, your cell phone, or your Tupperware may one day be made from wood.
Ecologically, Arboform is pretty clean. Made from stuff that already exists and would go to waste. Check. Not made from petroleum. Check. Compatible with existing machinery. Check. Cheap and economical to produce. Uh, not check. The only downside to "liquid wood" that we can see is price—in bulk it costs more than half again as much as petroleum-ridden plastics. How much more are we willing to pay for green?
The other downside? Not currently available in the U.S.—only Brazil, Australia, Colombia, and of course Europe have jumped on the liquid lignin wagon (and yes, you can make wagons from it...). Hey, rest of the world? Time to start getting serious about plastic alternatives. Yeah, even if they cost more. In the end it'll be worth it.
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I'd pay more for that. If I had any money to buy anything. ;-)
I'd certainly pay to have this made widely available. While the fossil fuel crisis may not be as bad as made out to be, it is something that should be planned for.
And an alternative that's made out of waste by-products? Yes please!
looking at how quickly our forests are being cut down to meet existing demand for wood products I can't say I'm thrilled to see another wood-based product. still, if it uses a material that would otherwise be a waste product and we can avoid clearcutting otu forests in order to make this "green" product it could be a good thing.
personally though, I think humans are just too damn stupid to be trusted with another reason to cut down trees.
This sounds great...but, remember that plastic originated as a way to get rid of a byproduct from refining oil...not from the oil itself. It sounds good to use a material that already exists to replace plastic, again but, a major element of using plastic isn't from its manufacture..its getting rid of it after its life is finished. Plastic takes 1000's of years to break down in our landfills...thats what makes it so appealing to use...long life...
How long does this new material take to break down in a landfill? Eliminating plastic through reusables is the only way to go.