Plants and possibilities.It's old news that plastics are practical and inexpensive, yet potentially damaging to the environment. But chemistry professor and author E.S. Stevens explores the material of the future--plastics made from plants--in Green Plastics (Princeton University Princeton University, at Princeton, N.J.; coeducational; chartered 1746, opened 1747, rechartered 1748, called the College of New Jersey until 1896. Schools and Research Facilities Press, $29.95). Stevens provides a thorough introduction to the newly developing field of environmentally friendly Environmentally friendly, also referred to as nature friendly, is a term used to refer to goods and services considered to inflict minimal harm on the environment.[1] plastics, or "bioplastics." An invaluable resource for students and teachers, and an accessible starting point Noun 1. starting point - earliest limiting point terminus a quo commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the for nonspecialists, this well-written book explains the fundamentals of plastic sciences and acquaints readers with emerging technologies. Stevens even provides step-by-step instructions for making bioplastics at home, with supplies from the supermarket! Eminent environmentalists William McDonough
William A. McDonough (b. 1951, Tokyo, Japan) is an American architect and founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, whose career is focused on and Michael Braungart Michael Braungart is a German chemist who advocates 'upcycling' not recycling, to minimize humanity's ecological footprint. Once a Greenpeace activist who lived in a tree as protest, he is now a respected industrial designer and professor of process engineering. appreciate plants for their environmental efficiency. Of the belief that the very concept of "waste" can be eliminated, McDonough and Braungart, co-authors of Cradle to Cradle (North Point Press, $25), insist that human prosperity depends on learning to imitate nature's highly effective system of regenerative cycles. McDonough and Braungart, respectively an architect and a chemist, are eager to "remake the way we make things," and their highly regarded new book offers innovative design (the book's pages are made of tree-free, waterproof synthetic "paper") and an honest respect for the planet and its biodiversity. |
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