10 June 2009 — My 6-year old son is passionate about cars, trucks, tractors…essentially anything with motors and wheels. The bigger the better. He likes to taunt me by threatening that when he grows up he’s going to get a ‘plastic Hummer’. Yikes, not what an ecologically minded parent running a plastic alternatives business loves to hear from his progeny. But my son likes the Toyota Prius too, and is fascinated by the hybrid concept and the idea that one day soon we’ll be able to just plug in our car. Now I can’t wait to tell him about the 2009 Prius, which incorporates various types of ‘ecological plastics’ throughout the car. Toyota aims to have these materials eventually make up about 60% of the cars interior.
I have yet to do the research on all these ‘ecological plastics’ – which include polylactic acid, plant-derived polyester, kenaf fibre and polyol, which is derived from castor oil – but they appear to be a move in the right direction. I’m curious to hear what my son thinks. He is open to compromise. He intends to run his Hummer on biodiesel.
-Jay