introducing plantic
October 4, 2005 3:55 PM   Subscribe

introducing plantic : plastic from plants - packaging and display trays made from renewable resources, are compostable, and most interestingly, dissolve when in water.
posted by grafholic (30 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
dissolve when in water.

Tupperware bummer, or great practical joke!
posted by Peter H at 4:12 PM on October 4, 2005


yeah, don't get swimsuits made of this stuff unless thou art an exhibitionist.
posted by Hat Maui at 4:13 PM on October 4, 2005


Soup bowls?

Is it microwavable?
posted by Balisong at 4:16 PM on October 4, 2005


Sounds like those potato-starch packing peanuts.
posted by boo_radley at 4:17 PM on October 4, 2005


Compostable is nice. Dissolving in water, not so nice. Biscuit packages are meant to keep the biscuits away from water.
posted by lumpenprole at 4:18 PM on October 4, 2005


Plastic is made from oil. Oil is made from plants, and animals (themselves incorporating plant material). So plastic has always been made from plants.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:22 PM on October 4, 2005


Take that, Peak Oil!
posted by NewBornHippy at 4:31 PM on October 4, 2005


the restaurant where i work uses all corn starch packaging for togo items...they dissolve instantly in water, but completely biodegrade within 6 months or so...
posted by schyler523 at 4:33 PM on October 4, 2005


StickyCarpet, have we always been at war with plastic?

I'm curious about the water after its had some of this stuff dissolved in it. Is the water drinkable or usable? Or does it become bio-sludge?

I like the Japanese candy in the rice paper wrappers that are completely edible.
posted by fenriq at 4:36 PM on October 4, 2005




schyler523, if you're going to link to a business, I should point out that your hamburger is totally turning away in disgust and puking out that alfalfa.
posted by Peter H at 4:37 PM on October 4, 2005


have we always been at war with plastic?


In 1933, Ralph Wiley, a Dow Chemical lab worker, accidentally discovered polyvinylidene chloride (better known as Saran). Saran was first used to protect military equipment.
posted by StickyCarpet at 4:43 PM on October 4, 2005


Saran was first used to protect military equipment.

From spoiling?
posted by Peter H at 4:45 PM on October 4, 2005


See also Cereplast, sold under the brand name nat-ur. As I understood the materials I'd read, this one is safe in liquids at certain temperature ranges, but not for, say, soup.
posted by whatzit at 4:47 PM on October 4, 2005


i meant that they don't dissolve instantly, but you all knew that already...

that is a pretty funny picture peter h
posted by schyler523 at 5:04 PM on October 4, 2005


I already heard a commercial about this today, for a flushable toilet brush. I thought it was stupid until after reading this.
posted by snsranch at 5:32 PM on October 4, 2005


Oh, hold that, it's still stupid.
posted by snsranch at 5:32 PM on October 4, 2005


Is this similar to plastic that you can make with some vegetable oil, corn starch, a ziplock bag, and a microwave?

(you mix the starch and oil in a ziplock, nuke it, mix it some more and then mold the plastic into whatever you want)
posted by PurplePorpoise at 5:39 PM on October 4, 2005


snsranch writes "I already heard a commercial about this today, for a flushable toilet brush."

That one kinda makes sense, considering the nasty stuff that's on the brush after you've removed it from the inside of the bowl...
posted by clevershark at 5:43 PM on October 4, 2005



the restaurant where i work uses all corn starch packaging for togo items[...]

The cafeteria I eat at uses corn starch too. For the cutlery. Ever tried eating hot soup? With a dissolving spoon?
posted by pantsrobot at 5:46 PM on October 4, 2005


From spoiling?

Surely you've heard of the spoils of war.
posted by transient at 6:59 PM on October 4, 2005


Take that, Peak Oil!

I'm not sure if this is the post-petrochemical answer for your Game-Boy. Can't they come up with something that isn't biodegradable?!
posted by missbossy at 7:19 PM on October 4, 2005


*Instantly sinks savings into corn starch umbrella factory*

The repeat business will make me rich! Hehehehahahahaha
posted by dreamsign at 7:19 PM on October 4, 2005


I've bought greens in corn-based packaging. It's perfectly clear, and you'd never know it wasn't plastic.
posted by mkultra at 7:34 PM on October 4, 2005


Thanks, been wondering about alternatives to plastic for awhile now - but too lazy to look around for it myself.
posted by melt away at 8:35 PM on October 4, 2005


So you leave the grocery store in Portland or Seattle, of course it is raining, and all the containers - I can't go on, it's too horrible.
posted by Cranberry at 8:46 PM on October 4, 2005


Give me genuine petrochemicaL plastic any day! I don't just wrap stuff in it. I eat the stuff, its just like fiber, but doen't give me gas.
posted by garficher at 9:24 PM on October 4, 2005


Yeah. Considering how much petroleum input is needed to grow our plants these days, we're probably better off just using the oil and natural gas to make plastics directly, until we run out of it.

After that, it will make sense to make plastic out of whatever plant waste is left over after we all eat.

This makes no difference to Peak Oil, sorry. Nice idea, though.

I saw something about scientists in Japan coming up with a way to make plastic-like packaging using prawn shells. That's probably a bit more energy-effective.
posted by zoogleplex at 9:56 PM on October 4, 2005


Check this page for a picture of Henry Ford swinging an ax at an all-plastic bodied Ford car - in 1941.

Seventy percent of the body of the cream-colored automobile consisted of a mat of long and short fibers from field straw, cotton linters, hemp, flax, ramie and slash pine. The other 30 percent consisted of a filler of soymeal and a liquid bioresin.

"The timing gears, horn buttons, gearshift knobs, door handles and accelerator pedals were derived from soybeans. The tires were made from goldenrods bred by Ford’s close friend Thomas Edison. The gas tank contained a blend: about 85 percent gasoline and about 15 percent corn-derived ethanol."

To prove the vehicle’s superiority, Ford demonstrated the strength of the car body by smashing an ax against the trunk, only to have it bounce off.

posted by Enron Hubbard at 3:58 AM on October 5, 2005


Since when is this something new? Hasn't everyone heard of this story:

Henry Ford is known for his automobile but did you know that he once made a car with all the plastic made from soybeans - even the automobile's exterior? Mr. Ford owned a large research facility. He came to the lab one day with a huge bag of soybeans. He dumped them out on the floor and told the scientists, "You guys are supposed to be smart. You ought to be able to do something with them." In time, the scientists in Ford's labs made a strong enough plastic for the gearshift knobs, horn buttons, window frames, accelerator pedals, light-switch assemblies and ignition-coil casings. They also fashioned the exterior of an automobile from "soybean plastic." By 1935 Mr. Ford was using one bushel of beans for every car he manufactured. (60 pounds = 1 bushel)
posted by JJ86 at 4:01 AM on October 5, 2005


Synthetic biopolymers are nothing new. Actually, many of the first polymers were based on plant-derived materials. Natural rubber is a polymer. Numerous polymers were derived from cellulose, like celluloid, cellophane and rayon (I believe the latter was the first synthetic textile).

Recently Dow and Cargill partnered to develop polylactide (PLA) polymers. The basic building block for PLA is lactic acid, derived through a fermentation process from corn starch if I recall correctly.

Biopolymers have yet to break the commerical barrier in a significant way, though, and the basic obstacle is unsurprisingly cost. There just isn't any effective incentive to justify the expense.
posted by nanojath at 10:40 PM on October 5, 2005


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