There's no doubt that plastics have revolutionized the way we live. From medicine to storage to being easy and cheap to produce, plastics helped usher in a new era of human ingenuity. It has become our civilization's "artificial skin". Durable, long lasting and easily replaced. Unfortunately plastics are also toxic and release tons of carcinogenic particles into our air when burnt and because of it's resilient nature, burning it is the only way to get rid of it. We've succeeded in initiating recycling programs but we're missing one major part of the formula. In nature, materials are not only recycled, but they have to break down fast and refuel the whole process again. In our haste for the mother of all artificial materials, we forgot to make our plastics biodegradable.
An Australian company called Plantic says you only have to add water to its plastic and it will disappear right in front of your eyes. Its plastic is made out of 90% organic materials and left in a compost heap, the material will disappear in less than 3 months.
The "green" technology behind this plastic is amazing. By using water as a catalyst, potentially the plastic could break down releasing water into the soil and carbon dioxide into the air. Low laying plants surrounding the plastic could convert that carbon dioxide and release clean oxygen into our air.
As we tread closer to the realization that our current methodologies are wasteful and unbalanced with the rest of nature, technologies like these will help evolve our current materials into products not just for us, but for our source; the earth as well.