Plastics Guardian and Polluter
Plastics – Nature’s Guardian, Our Benefactor ….. & Polluting Biohazard! John Wesley Hyatt won $10,000 to find a substitute for the ivory that was once in high demand to make billiard balls for the popular sport. The demand for ivory as well as other natural products such as tortoiseshell, horn and linen was depleting natural resources. People wanted alternatives to help save nature. This happened in 1869 and Hyatt had discovered how to make plastics. His invention provided a revolutionary, nature-saving solution. Hyatt’s plastic could be crafted into a variety of shapes and made to imitate many natural substances. Industry could now create many new materials to reduce the depletion of the natural world. Advertisements of the day praised Hyatt’s plastic as the saviour of
