In this episode, Dr. David Kinkela discusses the history of plastics and plastic ocean waste. Kinkela traces the impact of plastic products from their initial stages of development and advertisement as a new modern convenience to the realization that the world's oceans are full of floating pieces of plastic garbage.
Banner image: Scene from the DuPont education motion picture: A New World Through Chemistry. Everything shown is from the chemical laboratory- rayon negligee, upholstery, drapery, curtains, rug and lampshades; Lucite plastic furniture; Lucite and nylon toilet ware and synthetic dyes. See the full image in the Hagley Digital Archive.
Dr. David Kinkela is a professor of history at the State University of New York: Fredonia.
