The Case of Plastics 

The Case of Plastics is under way at the Little Flower Catholic High School. Deborah Cook reflects on their second debate and community event.

“Permanent” does not always mean what museum curators would want it to as plastics in their care change over time. In his third and final post Sam Kean explores the dangers facing famous works of art.

The Case of Plastics is under way at the Little Flower Catholic High School. Deborah Cook reflects on their first debate.

We are often told that plastics are permanent, but plastics do change over time, often in nasty ways. In his second post Sam Kean explores some of the specific problems posed by different types of plastics.

We are often told that plastics are permanent, but plastics do change over time, often in nasty ways. In a series of posts Sam Kean explores the unique problems of preserving plastic objects and art for posterity.

One the final day of the Case of Plastics test run at Ursinus College, Mike Mackintosh and his students drop their character and discuss what they have learned about plastics.  

We’ve collected, separated out what we want, cleaned it up, and put it back in condition to be sold. But it’s not good for anything until someone uses it again—the final step in the recycling process.

Following their introductory class, Mike Mackintosh’s Environmental History students engaged in a successful first debate for The Case of Plastics.  

Now that we’ve separated the stuff we want from what we don’t, we have to make it into something someone will buy. That’s step 3 in the recycling process—reprocessing.