A plastic bag has all my plastic stuff; my plastic bottle and my bag of chips. I'm also wearing the clothes I bought in an online fast-fashion store. 

I mask my gum and start thinking, what is plastic?

Plastic is everywhere and we use it for everything, but what is plastic?

Plastics are either synthetic or naturally occurring. Plastic is a polymeric material that is usually moulded or shaped. 

Polymers employed as plastics have abbreviations or trade names. Thus, polyethene terephthalate and polyvinyl chloride are commonly referred to as PET and PVC. 

The first plastic was parkin, invented by Alexander Parkes in 1862. It was nitrocellulose softened with vegetable oils and camphor, but it was Leo Baekeland in 1907 who invented Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic.

Plastic apogee was during world war II. The necessity to conserve natural resources made the production of synthetic alternatives a priority, and the plastic industry eventually provided what they were looking for in nylon. Nylon rapidly became used in clothes, helmets, armour or every possible structure. 

In the postwar years, people started to become concerned and became aware of the problem but certainly, they all loved cheap conformity and superficiality.

Plastics have been part of advancements in all sectors: technology, science, economy, art, and medicine, but without a limit, we will be swimming in a garbage ocean or eating a taco of microplastics. 

Scientists are attempting to make plastics safer and sustainable, developing bioplastics (made from plants). Some innovators are focused on an effective recycling technique, but the truth is that we should use it with responsibility and reduce our waste. 

A water bottle daily is not necessary, neither is your coffee nor your plastic bag.

 Let's be consume wisely and be responsible because so far a sure thing is that we will be using plastic for a few more years. 

So, as Susan Freinkel would say: Plastics: A Toxic Love Story. 

“Looking at the two chairs together, I see a fair representation of the partner we've found in plastic: a Janus-faced companion who can rightly inspire our deepest admiration and our strongest disgust.”
― Susan Freinkel

Photo rights and ownership: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-use-plastics-101