Stuff Matters Chapter Summary

Stuff Matters is a book by Mark Miodownik where he explores the different origins and properties of materials that are in our daily lives. The materials around us are taken for granted, thus not many people can answer the question of why the materials look, feel, and act the way they do. A prime example is plastic. Polymers, or plastics, are considered one of the six classes of materials that has changed the world. Plastic is held with high status in the material world because of its extensive formability, giving it properties that allow it to be formed for certain purposes. The Imaginative chapter is dedicated to plastics, and its origin. The chapter begins with Miodownik in a movie theatre, discussing about how plastic wrappers are “at …show more content…
The specific plastic described in the chapter was celluloid, which is no longer used for anything but the production of ping pong balls. However, plastics in general are something I use nearly for everything. Most of my storage is done through plastic containers because they are generally lightweight and are transparent, allowing me to know exactly what is inside. However, I am also guilty of using disposable plastic. By disposable plastic, I mean plastics bags and plastic that is meant for single use. Disposable plastic is so popular because it is so convenient to throw away after consumption. However, there are too many externalities. Although they are convenient, I have become much more conscious about using plastic in the past few years because of the negative effects it has on the environment. This has become a global issue; plastics have become such a staple in human lives that we are having trouble cutting back on its consumption. Plastics have spoiled us with convenience and ease that it is actually troublesome to stop using them. Plastic bags make it so much easier to carry our groceries as compared to paper bags. Plastic wrappers do not stick to the food product and can be disposed of without taking up much. Utensils made of plastics make cleaning up easier, because they can just be thrown away. All of these luxuries have come from the invention of using plastics to make disposables, but such disposable items are not disposable in the sense that they are hard to break down. Thus, the “luxuries” actually made me realize the dangers of overusing plastics, leading me to look into the environment and how humans are harming the environment outside of plastic