I originally got this idea from a talk I had with my mom, though now after reading a bit about other people's ideas, I've found that there are many ways to look at the idea of plastic, or other excess material eating bacteria. Personally, my idea was that if bacteriologists could genetically modify some bacteria, who already have corrosive properties towards plastic, and enhance those aspects. The bacteria would have to be safe to handle, meaning they must be harmless towards humans. People could use them to degrade non recyclable plastics that we use in our everyday lives, such as plastic cutlery, Styrofoam cups, take-out containers and the like. Polystyrene is in many of the above mentioned products, and it is a non recyclable plastic that causes a lot of waste build up. With the bacteria, consumers, such as ourselves, could simply make a compost pile, except for plastic, place a bag, which would degrade in a few days, containing the bacteria in the middle of the pile, and leave it alone. The bacteria would then "do it's thing" and degrade the plastic into some biodegradable substance that then could either be processed further into another usable material, or simply become part of the earth, like a normal compost heap. I think it would be very helpful and would reduce the amount of waste we add to landfills and the amount we generally pollute our environment for a lack of working on where to put our harmful wastes so other creatures won't suffer from our negligence.
these are the sites I used and where you can get more information on the particular subject:
http://www.mcmaster.ca/recycle/guidelines/NRlist.htm
http://www.canyon-news.com/artman2/publish/santamonica/SANTA_MONICA-_Styrofoam_and_Non-Recyclable_Plastics_Ban.php
http://www.vestaldesign.com/blog/2006/03/styrofoam-eating-bacteria.html
http://www.ontariogenomics.ca/education/episode8.asp
http://www.regenesistv.com/indexframeset.html
Here is a styrofoam degrading bacterium: Pseudomonas putida
many thanks for reading!
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