The Plastic Paradox

Catalog description

Plastic is ubiquitous in modern life. Every day, we wear clothes made of plastic, eat food packaged in plastic, and live and work in buildings constructed with countless plastic components. Plastics are more versatile than other materials. However, plastic pollution is also a large and growing problem. In this course, we will consider the science of plastics: what are they? How are they made? And why do they take so long to break down? Then, we will move onto some of the thornier issues: what are the health and environmental impacts of plastics? Who benefits and who loses from the current paradigm of plastic production and disposal? What is our personal responsibility for the plastic waste that we generate? What are possible solutions for dealing with the plastic waste problem?