We discuss what is natural and what is artificial, following more fashions than facts

If we look back in our history, man has mainly used, for the manufacture of objects, what he had ready and available, such as stone, wood, skin and bones.

In a subsequent phase, the union between available raw materials, energy and knowledge, led to the creation of transformed natural materials, giving birth to glass, metals and terracotta to name but a few.

The latter, which are widely used even nowadays, are commonly and erroneously considered natural materials, the result of millennial uses by man, but which in nature do not exist at the state of our use, but are the result of the convergence between natural raw materials and the ingenuity of man.

In a much more recent era, starting from the 60s of the last century, the proliferation of plastic objects in the world market has forever changed the habits of purchase and use of materials, both in the family and in the industry.

Plastic, as we know, contained in itself a series of advantages unattainable by other products, in terms of lightness, resistance, durability, colorability, economy, electrical insulation, chemical agents resistance and many other advantages, which have made it a driving force of the industry and omnipresent in our lives.

During the last 60 years the use of plastic has also given rise to an environmental concern for human stupidity, ignorance and inefficiency in managing, as with other products, the rejection resulting from the end of its use.

Not only this, but we must also consider how wrong, at times, the industrial and commercial approach of the use of plastic, in which it is privileged the economic aspect to others, thus creating durable items sold as disposable.

The world of packaging, for example, has perfectly embodied this dichotomy, creating packaging with almost immortal materials, sold for a use of a few hours or a few days.

But is plastic an artificial material?

Public opinion considers plastic the artificial product par excellence, where it sees in chemistry the responsibility of creating a monster that we cannot get rid of.

In reality, the raw materials that make up plastic are as natural as glass or metal, in fact its origin is organic, composed of salt, coal, gas and petroleum, also natural, which comes from millenary sedimentations, the result of the decomposition of animals and plants that lived millions of years ago and can lead to a reading of plastic materials that is completely opposite to the real one.

The artificial aspect of plastic is given exclusively, as for many other materials that are considered "natural", by the processing of natural raw materials through chemical and thermal processes .

From a comparative point of view, the renewability of glass, metal, bricks, composite woods, materials considered ancient and natural, is identical to that of plastic, but an emotional and visible aspect of its environmental pollution, not caused by the product but by its distorted use, makes it a material adverse to most.

Therefore, many materials considered natural, have undergone transformations, artifices, through which they can no longer return to nature independently and in short times, so it is necessary that are recycled to come back to life many more times.

As we have seen, we are not just talking about plastic, but about an enormous range of materials, born as natural and almost all of which have become artificial, adapted to the needs of man, with ingenuity and wisdom.

What is not good is to create discrimination between elements, the result of lobbies, ignorance and convenience.

Automatic translation. We apologize for any inaccuracies. Original article in Italian.