DIYbanter - View Single Post - *YOU* are responsible for high gas prices

Ed Pawlowski

On Sun, 18 Mar 2012 04:49:58 -0600, wrote:

Did you know that everytime you buy anything in a plastic package, buy
plastic trash bags, accept a plastic store bag, buy your kids plastic
toys, and the list goes on......
*YOU* are responsible for high gas prices!!!

All plastics are made mostly from crude oil.

snip

If you think it's bad now, consider that new homes are becoming more
made of plastics every day. Plastic siding is the top sold siding,
plastic windows and doors, plastic plumbing (Pex and Pvc), plastic
coated wiring (romex), and it seems the wooden decks of the past few
decades are now made of plastic lumber, with plastic railings. The
houses are insulated with styrofoam (a type of plastic), and it dont
stop there.

And you know those plastic lawn chairs that rarely last one
summer..... did you ever see one of them burn? Compare the fire to
dumping a 5 or 10 gallon can of oil into a fire....
No, not exactly

Sure it takes oil to mold metal, but look at the lifespan of metal
objects compared to plastic. Heck, children's metal and wooden toys
from the 1950s and even older are still around. You wont be passing on
their plastic toys to their children, most dont last one year.

Metal or plastics, we toss too much stuff and make too much junk. More
of a consumer issue than a materials one.

I'm not saying to eliminate all plastics, but at least half of them
could be eliminated. To begin, it's time to get rid of all disposible
plastics, no more plastic store bags, plastic soda /water/ beverage
bottles, cut back on plastic containers for household liquids, get rid
of many plastic toys, go back to decks made of real wood, and what ever
happened to all the other sidings that have been replaced by cheap
looking ugly plastic siding.

You raise some good points, but much of what you say is not founded in
facts.

Take that lawn chair. No, it is not like 5 or 10 gallons of gas when
it burns, and burn it should. Most plastics contain about 18,000 Btu
per pound. If not recycled, it is a good fuel in trash to energy
plants. It serves a dual purpose that way, better than just taking
oil and burning it, with plastics you get an extra use along the way.

You mention Styrofoam insulation. The amount of oil used to produce
the insulation is miniscule compared to the amount of fuel it saves
over the life of the house it is in. Before condemning its use, I
want to see a study of energy used to produce other forms of
insulation, such a fiberglass and see what gives us the best deal.

We have to recycle more and what is not recycled should go into a
trash to energy plant that produces power while reducing the bulk for
landfills. We should optimize our use of crude and make the products
that ultimately are most beneficial, be it plastics from oil, or metal
that uses oil in the processing.

I also found this:
Percent of world oil consumption used for plastics

Percent of world oil consumption used for plastics:
Unit: 7-8 Value: percent

Details/Sources
4% for feedstock and 3-4% for manufacturing.

http://www.wasteonline.org.uk/resour...s/Plastics.htm