聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 It was an accidental find, but apparently a beekeeper discovered that a parasitic pest in his hives of bees, a wax worm, which feeds on beeswax, can actually break down plastics. The little worm, sometimes used for fish bait, might be the answer to figuring out a way to eliminate plastic waste.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The find was discovered when an amateur beekeeper found holes in plastic bags, which she had deposited wax worms in after removing them from her beehives.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Research then took place at the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria and the University of Cambridge.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The University of Cambridge鈥檚 study involved 100 wax worms and supermarket plastic bags: 40 minutes and holes appeared in the plastic, 12 hours and the mass of the plastic was reduced by 92 milligrams, the CBC reported in their article, 鈥淒iscovery of plastic-eating caterpillar could prove a boon in waste disposal.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Further research will need to be done to figure out exactly how the caterpillar breaks down the plastic as the molecular bonds are very stable, which is why plastic doesn鈥檛 break down easily in nature. Thus, researchers鈥� best guess currently is that the wax worm has an enzyme that can break the bonds in this molecular structure: a structure, which actually resembles wax.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 According to plastic-pollution.org, 299 million tons of plastics were produced in 2013, a four percent increase from 2012. So, if there鈥檚 that much plastic being produced where is it all going? Do all of you recycle absolutely every plastic item possible? If the answer is no, then not all of that plastic is coming from recycled material, especially if the amount produced is increasing.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So, we continue to consume items in plastic containers and we don鈥檛 recycle all of them, where does that go? A landfill, the side of the road, in the oceans?
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Although we should be finding a different way to package items, just think about all of the consumer products that come in plastic packaging: food, drink, toys, etc鈥� Almost everything comes in some form of plastic and nothing can really be done about it. However, people are creatures of habit and to make a change that substantial would be very difficult. I have a hard enough time remembering to bring a reusable cloth bag or my backpack when I go grocery shopping.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽So, we definitely need to be more conscious of the amount of plastic we are using and making sure we recycle it if we are, that鈥檚 including myself; but, at least there鈥檚 been a discovery which could help to lessen our sometimes careless nature.
