PLASTICS: Here's the last straw

Of straws & things: Reference finding a suitable replacement for plastic straws comes this from MIT Technology Review:

“Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have developed a method to use cells from tobacco plants to make biodegradable materials that are as strong as processed wood or conventional plastic. The researchers harvested cells from the Nicotiana tabacum plant, shaped them into a mold and then applied heat to the material, forming a biopolymer structure that’s as hardy as oak. Such a method could not only give new uses to tobacco, but could also reduce the need for petroleum-based plastics, the kind that often end up in landfills,” or could become straws! I’ll suppose that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office isn’t likely to shut down from lack of demand any time soon.

JAMES STRONG

Hayden