Plastic Was Invented To Replace Bugs

WKNO | By Savannah Smith

Published July 3, 2022 at 7:42 AM CDT

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Before plastic (or plastic pollution), stuff was expensive. Back then, people relied on nature to make things: toothbrushes were made of silver, combs were made of tortoiseshell and clothes were made of cotton (well, they're still mostly cotton, but you get the point.)

Then, in 1907, a chemist named Leo Baekeland found a way to turn useless oil gunk into plastic. Things haven't been the same since. It opened up a whole world of affordable products. Suddenly everyone could get one of everything. This is the story of how plastic was first made, and how maybe we went too far with it.

This is the story of the moldable, affordable, miracle product of the modern age - Plastic.