| Washington Post: Bioplastics. But Are They Better? |
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It sounds like a perfect eco-solution: plastic from plants, not petroleum. And indeed, plastics made from cornstarch and other crops, such as potato starch, castor oil and soy protein, are popping up everywhere. Sony uses them in its Walkmans; they comprise parts of Toyota's Prius; Wal-Mart packages fresh fruits and vegetables in them. There's just one catch: Bioplastics aren't quite as green as they might seem, for many of the same reasons that biofuels are an environmental Catch-22. For one, using crops to produce plastic diverts those plants from the food supply. The recent rise in global food prices demonstrates the danger of this; also, much new cropland is cleared at the expense of carbon-absorbing forests. Crop production requires carbon-dioxide-emitting energy, and unless the plants are organically grown (unlikely for bioplastic sources), pesticide and fertilizer runoff is an issue. Bookmark this page!      |
| Source: | washingtonpost.com |
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