Plastic poses a huge threat to the environment in the current day and age. It's something that cannot be decomposed easily, and unlike common garbage waste it takes plastic 8 times longer to fully decompose. However, with this new super enzyme created by researchers at the Center for Enzyme Innovation in the UK and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado plastic is easily broken down in a matter of days to its chemical building blocks. They combined a known plastic eating enzyme with another to speed up the process in which it breaks the plastic down, creating this new super enzyme.
Plastic is something most people rely on a daily basis, so it’s super necessary, but with this comes a multitude of negative aspects. I know everyone has seen videos of sea life stuck in some sort of plastic. To me, and I think most people, that's super depressing to see that we are the cause of something like that. But, with new engineering and creation of enzymes like this, most plastic waste will be able to be recycled in a matter of days and it reverts the plastic back to its original composition. Something like this will have a huge positive impact in a time like this where most of the news is negative.
1. How mindful are you of your use of plastic in your everyday life and why is it super necessary/helpful?
2. How would this scientific research and enzyme development affect countries with tons of plastic waste, like the Philippines, as well as countries like the U.S.?
https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-eating-super-enzyme-recycles-plastic-bottles-2020-10
Personally, I can't truly say I am super mindful of my plastic use in everyday life. Although I always make sure to use a reusable water bottle and metal straws, and my family tries not to waste or over-use plastic, we don't necessarily go out of our ways to limit plastic use. It is super necessary and helpful because plastic is found literally everywhere, and makes containing/holding things way more convenient. In terms of this enzyme's impact on countries that produce large amounts of plastic waste, there will definitely be positive outcomes. Overall, I agree with you that this piece of news is particularly uplifting considering the current situation that is 2020.
ReplyDeleteI, myself, am not really aware of my plastic use as well, because I mean it's one of those things that is so common that you aren't usually aware of it. And in the term of news this year it will be pretty positive to hear this. However, I wonder when this enzyme will actually be put into place because currently it seems very exotic. In some other articles relating to the enzyme they say it won't have practical use until it is able to be made on a bigger scale.
DeleteHonestly, I am not very mindful of my plastic use in my everyday life. I do drink from a reusable water bottle everyday and reuse plastic bags/containers, but I love Saran Wrap (plastic wrap) and Ziplock bags for their convenience. My family uses plastic containers to store our leftover dinner, I buy my shampoo in a plastic bottle from the store, and my dog uses plastic doodoo bags. Single-use, as well as reusable, plastic is everywhere. This research and enzyme development sounds exciting and would totally reduce the impact of plastic waste on our environment. If we can recycle and reuse plastic faster, we can reduce the amount of plastic waste that currently exists in our environment. Like Meher said, reading this information made me really happy after always responding to--important but--heavy topics.
ReplyDeleteI am not very mindful of my plastic use unfortunately, however I always use reusable water bottles and drink water from the tap. I also try not to use plastic bags or other plastic products that may damage our environment. It's necessary to take precautions to waste plastic because when plastic is overused it can get into our environment and cause harm to animals and ecosystems. I think scientific research could help countries with tons of plastic waste because with new developments we might be able to find a way to reduce the affects of plastic on our environment which is super important.
ReplyDeleteI do try to limit my plastic use but sometimes I do have to use alot plastics throughout the week. Plastic is pretty helpfull even if its dangerous to our planet and whatnot though, most stuff I use is plastic. I think this Enzyme would be a great help to countries as it could eliminate much trash in the sea or landfills whihc would allow for more land to be used for other sutff. I do think this would probably need antoher 5-4 years though for the enzyme to be cheep enough to be ussed en mass. I Dont think this is the holy grail to our ecological problems however, since this doenst fix global warming. I think this is a great step foward however and hope research is contiuned on this.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I see why plastic is extremely helpful, and it makes sense, and usually I don't buy things like plastic water bottle a lot. I totally agree, this would affect countries with insane amounts of plastic waste. I know countries like Malaysia have lots of plastic off the coast and I feel this would be a huge step in getting rid of that plastic pollution. Again, I agree that it won't really be sought after or effective until it is actually manufactured on a larger scale than just experimentally.
DeleteI'd say that over the years I have definitely become more mindful of my use of plastic, and try now to avoid using it when I don't have to. I think that it is extremely important to try and mitigate the use of plastic in everyday life because of what you mentioned with regards to how long it takes to decompose, and how harmful it becomes in our landfills which eventually feed into the ocean and contaminate other places as well. In response to your second question I think that the development of a super enzyme such as this has major implications for nations that have large amounts of plastic waste, and hopefully if the enzymes can be mass produced and become available more evenly across the globe then they can be put to use in breaking down plastic. Hopefully, that will correlate to a decline in things such as ocean contamination, animals being harmed, and others negative impacts of plastic waste.
ReplyDeleteAs with several other people here, I am not the most conscious person when it comes to plastic use. If I remember, I do try to limit my use, but especially when I am going through hiking or backpacking, it becomes very difficult to limit my plastic use. An enzymes which could eat plastics could greatly benefit our current situation with the large amounts of plastics virtually everywhere in the world.
ReplyDeleteMy family is generally really mindful of our plastic use, and we try to avoid it as much as possible, but there are definitely still situations where I could be more mindful of my plastic use. The enzymes that you described sounds like they have the potential to be really valuable for areas with a lot of plastic wastage. Like you mentioned, the videos of marine life stuck in or being harmed by plastic is really heartbreaking, and this type of recycling seems like a really good way to prevent the problems that plastic causes.
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Iva, my family and I definitely try to limit our plastic use. We buy glass tupperware, use reusable bags and water bottles, and recycle all the plastic we do use. I've become more conscientious of my plastic use over the last couple of years as I've learned more about climate change and plastic's harmful effects on the environment. I think this enzyme and other scientific research will be really beneficial to countries with excessive plastic use. Not only will it help these countries convert their waste into other products that can be used again, but the more research we do, the more solutions we can find to environmental problems. These solutions will have a large impact on the future of our planet as we advance in technology and our understanding of the world as a whole. Scientists need to continue to share their work with each other and collaborate.
ReplyDeleteTo answer the first question, I don't think I'm very mindful of my use of plastic. While I know that there are alternatives to using plastic water bottles, plastic straws, and plastic bags, I still use those objects often simply because it's accessible and convenient. I do know that plastic is dangerous for our planet - as you mentioned, many animals die and get hurt because of it. We also consume plastics everyday in the form of micro-plastics and the side effects of that are still unknown. The enzyme would be great for many countries such as the Philippines and China because they’d be able to free more land and also manage the pollution of their water supply. However, I still think that if we don’t address the root of the problem (finding ways to reduce consumption and production of plastic) the issue of plastics polluting the Earth won’t be solved.
ReplyDeleteI think over time I became more aware of my plastic usage, but sometimes I still can't help but use it. Plastic is lightweight, transparent, and can be shaped easily, thus it's used everywhere. Plastic bottles, bags, food containers surely are convenient at times, but the problem is once used it needs to be recycled, plastic is harder to break down than most other materials. I also have seen videos of sea life dying from consumption or just trapped by plastic, it's a tragic sight to see, and it's not right. It's very hard to cut down on consumption because of how convenient they are, and I'm glad we found another way to deal with plastic. I think this research and development are groundbreaking and would have a major impact on countries dealing with plastic problems. Cleaning the environment makes the world a better place, and I think we are slowly approaching a time where we need to take care of the Earth more.
ReplyDeleteAs we know, American plastic does not stay in the United States. We as a country are not taking responsibility for the tons upon tons of garbage we create, and instead sending it off to China, Vietnam, the Pacific Great Garbage Patch, and I don't think this is going to change anytime soon. It would simply be too radical and detrimental to the economy to implement a ban on plastic in this administration and probably for the next 20 years. This new enzyme would help the United States reconcile the literal garbage they've dumped on other countries, and start the healing process.
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