Energy, Climate, Environment

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 09.07.01

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Purpose
  2. Introduction
  3. What Are Plastics
  4. Anything You Can Do, I Can Do BETTER!
  5. From Natural to Not So Much…
  6. Better Things for Better People - Marketing of Plastics
  7. So What Is the Big Deal??
  8. Health Concerns
  9. Out of Sight, Out of Mind
  10. Are We Really Recycling?
  11. Strategies for Implementation
  12. Stage One - You as the Consumer
  13. Stage Two - You as the Recycler
  14. Stage Three - You as the Global Citizen
  15. Reflection
  16. References
  17. Reading List for Students
  18. Materials for Classroom Use
  19. Appendix - Implementing District Standards
  20. Endnotes

Flexible Enthusiasm: Consumption and Awareness of Plastics in Our Lives

Stephanie Anaissa Brown-Bryant

Published September 2009

Tools for this Unit:

So What Is the Big Deal??

Plastics aren't all bad, you may say. We can agree, to some extent, that our lives are more fulfilling with this great polymer. Rates of production soared without any question of safety on production, use or disposal of plastics. In the 1950's attention was brought early on by the Manufacturing Chemists' Association (MCA) through a set of legal principles that labeled dangerous products. They expressed that the public's level of comfort and trust would increase when buying a product based on materials they know. Furthermore, they stated that companies should take every precaution to produce products that are devoid of toxins. If an assumption existed that a product was harmful, the harmful effects must be placed on the product in an effort to warn and protect the consumer.12 Quite thoughtful, you might say. Not so fast...

Comments:

Amy Loretta Neiter

November 19, 2009 at 8:29 am

Thank you

I am happy to be able to use your site to teach myself and my children.

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