Plastic

I'm often reassured by increasing awareness of, for example, the ubiquitous presence of sugar and salt in prepared foods, nutritional advantages of whole grain over white flour, the amount of gas used and pollution generated by transporting food products across the country. But once in a while there's an OMG moment when I do a double take and ask, "You mean people didn't know that?"

Here, from Fake Plastic Fish, is Plastic Is Made From Oil - You Knew That. I simply can't believe that any of my friends are among the 72% of people polled (PDF) who don't know that plastic is made from oil. I'll grant a huge margin of skepticism for the fact that the poll was sponsored by Archer Daniel Midlands in support of their project to make "bioplastics" from - wait for it - corn!

Still I think it's possible that some people don't know where plastic comes from - or goes - or the harm it does in between. Once you get a grip on that, you may want to follow Fake Plastic Fish's investigation of where plastic exists in her life and how to eliminate it.