Go green video reflection

How are these plastics being developed?
These plastics are made from sugar and they are made from PLA (main type of bio plastic)

What makes these plastics "green?"
These plastics are made from sugar such as sugar beets, corn, or sugar cane. So basically these plastics are environmentaly friendly due to the ingredients within them.

What are some issues with plastics that were mentioned?
These plastics actually do generate waste! Because by growing corn we are using fertilizers, and pesticides, also the machinery used needs crude oils all of this contributes to air and water pollution. Also the companies that are making these plastics say that no fossil flues are used during the process of making bio plastics. However, the electricity generated by the companies are using fossil fuels. Also by diverting farm land for crops used for non food purposes may cause damage to the evironment and potentially cause a food crises.
Also we say that you can put these into compost, well compost lets out carbon dioxide which causes climate change. Also most towns/communities don't have compost facilities therefore the plastics end up in a landfill.

How might these green plastics change packaging practices?

Yes, because the packaging of these plastics are made of different materials therefor they would have to change the process and maybe different types of machine's would be needed.

ChemMatters - Episode 2: Plastics Go Green from ACS Pressroom on Vimeo.

Food Inc Reflection

How did the film describe science & technology as a positive or negative impact on society or the environment?

I think that the way we are processing our food was definitely a negative impact on the environment and our society. One of their points that really stood out to me was about cows meat spreading ecoli due to the diet that we are feeding them. And how just by eating a hamburger someone has died! This was one amongst many things that definitely changed the was I'm going to be viewing by plate from now one.

How do our consumer choices affect what is out on the market and therefore, our own species survival?
By consuming more of one thing then we make it appear more in stores etc... therefore, if it is something bad for the environment then it will impact our species survival. So its all basically down to us, we need to choose what to consume in order to change what is produced.

A few ideas that popped up in conversation throughout the movie were:

Hygiene, by creating more environmentally friendly machinery we could make changes (like what we are doing with cars now,) try finding better ways to raise the animals (chickens.)

What is the difference between natural farming and industrial farming? Which is better? Are they both necessary for human survival? Why or why not?
I think that by a long way natural farming is definitely better for the environment and for us. Also natural farming is better for animals, you can see this during food inc the way that they treated the chickens and how you weren't allowed to do it naturally (or at least partly) when they still new it was wrong because no one wanted you to see inside. However due to slight over population there isn't enough food if we didn't have industrial farming. So I think that we need a way to produce the same amount of food but in a more environmental way that is also better for us as people.

If technology and industry have improved so much that we are getting faster, fatter, bigger, and cheaper, how are science and technology held responsible for improving or ruining human health and survival?
Because of all the unhealthy food that we are producing being over weight and more cases of diabetes's been becoming more common since industrial farming. Also by trying to grow food faster we have caused serious diseases (ecoli etc...) because of a diet that animals aren't used to.
To conclude I think that Food Inc has definitely changed the way I view food. Its scared me from McDonald's :) and really made me wonder about what process has been used to make parts of this food, and how much corn am I really eating? Despite the shock of it all I still however enjoyed the movie and learnt A LOT!