I have many fond memories of going to aquariums as a child. From Baltimore to Monterey Bay to Chicago, I’ve been to a few. There’s nothing quite like seeing a sea anemone swaying to and fro with the current or watching a beluga whale swimming just a few feet away. What I love about aquariums is that without them, I would have to be a deep-sea or SCUBA diver, traveling around the world in order to glimpse even a fraction of everything that you can see at an aquarium. Aquariums bring the beauty and awesomeness of the ocean to the non-swimmers and land-lovers of this world.

My favorite feature about aquariums are the floor-to-ceiling windows that allow you to see a full panoramic view of life under water.  One of the largest viewing windows is found at the Kuroshio Sea exhibit at Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa, Japan. More than 32 feet deep, almost 115 feet wide, and 88 feet long, the tank is a home to 80 species of fish, including a few whale sharks. This wide array of sea-life can be viewed through a huge acrylic (plexiglass) viewing window.

With close to 2 million gallons of water in the tank, it was critical to select a material that could withstand a large amount of water pressure being placed on the window.  Many aquarium windows are made from Poly(methyl methacrylate) or PMMA, which is known for it’s strength and clarity. This window was constructed by gluing seven sheets of acrylic-resin together, creating a window that measures about 27 feet tall, 74 feet wide and almost 2 feet thick.

In addition to aquarium viewing windows, PMMA is also used for submarine windows, such as the Alicia Submarine, which offers panoramic, underwater ocean views thanks to it’s spherical, acrylic hull.  Acrylic truly creates windows into the sea, allowing us to peek into an underwater world.

I just got back from Toronto, Canada, where I attended part of ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership’s Annual Meeting. My main reason for being there was to receive our blog’s Gold Circle Award.  But in addition to walking across the stage to receive our award, there were many exciting and interesting things at the meeting — from  standing in line for the St. Louis Build-a-Bear to learning more tips on how to make this blog even more interesting for readers. On the plastics front, one incident in particular stands out.

While in Canada, I had my first encounter with a plastic bag tax. Implemented in June, 2009 the Toronto Plastic Bag Tax requires that all retailers, no matter how big or small, charge customers a 5-cent tax if consumers do not bring their own re-usable containers (bags or bins).  Stores get to keep the 5-cent tax. I got taxed when I ordered dinner-to-go from a Chinese restaurant in downtown Toronto.

I understand that there are concerns about litter.  I am a proud recycler (for the most part) and I fully support recycling of all materials. But as a visiting tourist, something about my particular scenario in the Chinese restaurant seems a tad odd. As a visitor to Toronto, am I supposed to bring my own re-usable bag to the restaurant?  Should the cashier have at least given me the option of hand-carrying my food before placing the container in the 5-cent bag? Should Tourism Toronto have somehow warned me upon entering the city that Toronto is a BYOB (bring your own bag) city? Or is it now up to travelers to investigate bag laws before embarking on a trip so they can diligently pack bags along with a toothbrush?  OK, it’s only 5 cents, but the tax does beg some questions.

I can’t help but wonder if the bag tax is even an effective deterrent to litter. Five cents (or about 4 US cents) is hardly enough to effectively deter people from going ahead and getting the new bag. (Then again, the 20-cent tax that recently got rejected by Seattle was too much.)  And who says that “purchased” bag doesn’t still get irresponsibly thrown out rather than recycled?  While many large chain stores state that they will use the collected tax money to fund recycling programs, why should the smaller retailers get to keep the 5-cent tax – rather than putting the funds toward recycling promotion?  Currently, the large metal recycling containers that seem to be on every street corner of downtown Toronto have three compartments: one each for cans/bottles, papers and waste.  Why not add an additional slot for plastic bags?

Ultimately, since I only used one plastic bag on this trip, the tax didn’t have a huge impact on my wallet. But it did leave an impression on me. A city that seemed so clean and appeared to care about recycling decided to “punish” me for not bringing my own bag 350 miles from home.

If there’s anything that I’ve learned from watching Project Runway, it’s that good fashion has to be wearable, comfortable, flattering and have a unique style. Who would have expected that a shoe made from plastic could accomplish these critical fashion requirements?

One of the biggest fads of the decade, Crocs shoes burst onto the fashion scene in 2002 with their plastics clog. In 2004, after the purchase of Foam Creations, Crocs were manufactured using “croslite” – another type of copolymer using ethylene vinyl acetate.

The entire line of Crocs shoes is a testimony to the durability, versatility, and flexibility of plastics. Many Crocs are molded into a single piece of material – without any seams or joints that could weaken over time. The wide array of colors could only be achieved using plastics (unless you started making shoes out of paper). Their patented plastic foam material molds itself to a wearer’s foot and has antibacterial, anti-fungal and odor resistant properties, which combine to make a shoe that was given the American Podiatric Medical Association’s “APMA Seal of Acceptance” in footwear.

Another thing that makes these shoes unique is that – since the are made of plastics – they can be recycled. Unfortunately, a recent call to Crocs informed me that their Crocs recycling program, SolesUnited, has been suspended. The program would take your returned Crocs, grind them up, and turn them into new Crocs that contained 20% recycled material and were donated to people in need around the world. Here’s hoping that the program, or something similar, starts up again in the future!

Currently, there are plastic suits, t-shirts and shoes on the market – I can’t wait to see what new apparel made from plastic is next!

It started off as a typical day. I got off the metro, stopped by Starbucks, got to SPI’s building and hopped in the elevator to ride up to the 10th floor. Two other people got onto the elevator with me. After the elevator deposited the other riders on the fifth floor, the doors shut and… nothing happened. I hit the plastic “open doors” button and nothing happened. I hit the “close doors” button and the doors stayed closed. I hit the “5″ button, hoping it would “realize” that I’m still on the fifth floor and let me out. Nothing happened. I was trapped.

What does a graphic designer who is trapped in an elevator do? I pulled out my cell phone and started dialing. First I called SPI’s Manager of First Impressions, Yvonne, and she started pulling her strings with building management. Then I used the elevator’s “For Emergency Use Only” phone and called for help. After having me push a series of buttons, they determined that I was, in fact, stuck and let me know that they would be sending over a technician. While I was waiting, I had nothing better to do but assess my situation.

The first thing I did was take inventory of my ‘”Emergency Trapped in an Elevator Survival Kit”‘ a.k.a. whatever I happened to have in my bag. My Starbucks Grande Apple Chai, a box of Tic Tacs, a bag of Famous Amos Cookies, the newspaper, a soduku book and my cell phone. My next step was to to explore the surroundings. I was in the freight elevator, so it has furniture pads attached to the walls and a foam mat to pad the floor. Finally, I did what any plastics industry association employee who writes for a blog about plastics would do — I tallied all the things around me made of plastic. But before I began to make my list, a bell rang and the elevator started to move. “DING!” — The doors opened and I was released from the elevator on the 10th floor.

Truth be told, the total amount of time I was trapped was significantly less than the amount of time it took to write this blog post, but the story is exciting to tell. After my daring escape, I realized that having a cell phone really makes being trapped in an elevator much more bearable. It provides a connection to the outside world — other than the emergency phone. Most portable electronics, let alone a cell phone, wouldn’t be available without plastics.

Cell phones these day weigh between 2 to 5 ounces, which is made possible by improved technologies over the years in design and by the use of plastics — the perfect choice of material when it comes to durable, light-weighting designs. Cell phones, such as the Motorola W233 or the Samsung Blue, can even be manufactured out of recycled plastics. Standard features in cell phones include various buttons, a screen, a camera, speaker capabilities and a few others. How many of these things would you be able to do without plastics?

I came across one Web site that listed the parts for a very popular phone you might have heard of…the iPhone. According to the site, the following parts of an iPhone are made of plastic:

• Camera: Housing (black injection molded plastic), Lens (injection molded clear polycarbonate)
• Display: Housing (white injection molded polycarbonate), Backlight Diffuser (molded clear polycarbonate)
• Main Phone: Case, Top and Bottom Covers, Various Buttons (injection molded plastic), Camera Window (injection molded polycarbonate), Insulators (polyester film)
• Circuitry: SIM Card, Printed Circuit Board (polyimide film), Various Components
• Accessories: Docking Station, Charger, Head Phones

If you take away all of the plastics from the cell phone, you would have little more than a few sheets of copper and some glass. So the next time you get stuck in an elevator, remember that your portable connection to the real world is made possible by plastics.

And if it does happen, here’s hoping it’s nothing like what happened to this poor soul.

When someone in the SPI office suggested that I do a blog post here, my initial reaction was “What could a graphic designer say about plastics?” I walked back to my office, sat at my desk and got busy with the next task on my “to do” list:  designing a new logo for one of SPI’s Industry Groups. But that question about graphic design and plastics kept running through my mind. After a few sips of my Grande Apple Chai, I realized the answer was literally right in front of me.

I did a quick count of the array of items on my desk (see photo and click on it for a closer view), and counted more than 20 different items that were made (at least partially) of plastic. More importantly, I realized I couldn’t do my work as a graphic designer without the benefit of plastics.

All computer set-ups these days use plastics much more than we realize. Even I, a former electrical engineer, was amazed. From the monitor – which often has a plastic case and sometimes a plastic screen –  to the keyboard and even the mouse (which is almost completely plastic except for the little metal conductors for recharging). For you nerds out there, once you start opening your PC tower or laptop and start looking at the guts of the computer – the motherboard, wiring, memory, cable connectors and even some of the component level items (such as FETs and diodes) you might be amazed at how much of that stuff  is made from plastics.  For example, look inside Apple Inc.’s  MacBook laptop here. Almost six minutes in, the video shows you the insides of the computer — be sure to note all the plastic parts. But enough of the electrical engineer stuff, let’s get back to plastics.

Why is plastic so prevalent in electronics? First, it’s cheap. Those $400 computers you’re able to buy online would be much, much more expensive if they were built using alternative material (if any alternative material could even be used.) Second, it’s lightweight. I highly doubt that laptops would be as ubiquitous as they are now if they were made out of steel or glass. I can guess how well a 20 pound laptop would go over in today’s marketplace.  Not well. Third, plastic is non-conductive. Those of you who have stuck paper clips into electrical sockets (come on, admit it)* will understand the importance of the thin insulation layer of plastic that surrounds each wire or cable. Finally, it is versatile. Plastic can take on practically any shape and any color, enabling our electronic devices to be high-tech, sleek and cool. 

So what does a graphic designer care about plastics? I don’t know about the other designers out there, but I certainly care a lot about plastics. Without the technology that uses plastics, I wouldn’t have a job, because I can’t design without my mouse and monitor.

*SPI does not condone sticking paper clips into electrical sockets. This is dangerous and hazardous to your health.