Teen finds way to decompose plastic bags in just 3 months!

Plastic products can be made from hemp (already biodegradable) and it's cheaper than doing petro-based plastic.

I wish they give the recipe to start working on those plastic bags.

We need more research into this. We cant just start reusing plastics again out of the gazoo, and we need to find out if this truly works and how long it takes. We cant assume itll take a few seconds, these bacti are RARE, what if introducing tons of them will effect the environment? Plus we have to look at where the toxins go.

However, this is a huge step forward, but we cant throw a party until its been proved as a safe way of getting rid of plastic. We cant just do it because its convenient, oil was convenient and look what that did.

If you could get all those plastic bags to your super duper compost pile, why couldn't you just recycle them from there instead of destroying them?

It is important because he's actually doing something instead of complaining or making an outlandish law.

I'm not trying to be a downer but, what good is this information if the only (maybe the only) way to use this would be to place these micro-organisms on every plastic thing that we see lying around. It is helpful information, but not really...

...the thing is though that although it would break down quicker it still breaks down into POISON!

The "Going Green" idea is not a problem to me. The problem to me is that people have all these Nazi rules about how to go about it without altering things to make "Going Green" an easier application.

But Daniel Burd put his "Go Green" brain to use and figured out how to easy the problem of plastic taking so long to break down. That is what is needed. Not this general idea of "don't use that that's not environmentally friendly."

This kid is awesome. It is becasue of kids like this that I have hope in the future of this planet!

Awsome! Plastic is one of our worst materials because it doesn't decompose fast enough. If his method could be used widescale, it will be a big step in healing our invironment!

10 bucks says this creates some super virus that kills 99.9% of the worlds population.

Amazing.
Seeing this makes me hopeful that our world won't die.
Maybe that's a bit much, but this kid is Awsome.

So great. Instead of enormously large piles of hazardous plastic goods polluting nature's waters and lands, we're going to have decomposed but equally poisonous masses of the stuff dotting the nation.

Rats.

But enough of my pessimism, and kudos to Daniel for the find. His solution is one more than we had before, and I see major develpements on his idea in the near future. Congrats buddy!

I thought people in canada only drank beer and watch hockey. I would travel up there but im not sure if they have a starbucks.

what a simple and great solution to a big problem, well done.

Stop giving America's youth meds so we can start thinking critically and not just go along for the ride

This is still amazing... one step greener is always good.

He may have found out how to decompose them, but is it economically viable? In other words, can we afford enough microorganisms to decompose all the plastic bags in the world? How about a single country? Are the microorganisms dangerous to other organisms? What about all the other plastic items? These are things we need to think about. It's great that we have found a solution, but is it a good one?

wow! I wonder if this could apply to the ecological disaster that is out in the Pacific regarding the giant dead zones of plastic in the ocean!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/19/SS6JS8RH0.DTL&hw=pacific+patch&sn=001&sc=1000

he'll soon be assassinated before he can come up with any more brilliant ideas - if i were him , i'd go into hiding .

Sounds awesome! Kudos to you, kid! Let's just make sure that we know what we're doing with these microbes before we generate tons of them (Do these things make people sick/dead? We should find out in the least destructive way possible)

just keep those orginisms away from hollywood!

Great idea, but we have to be sure that we're not creating a bigger problem or simply shifting the problem. If we decompose the platic, are we just breaking the molecules down, making it easier for smaller animals to ingest or to simply absorb? We need more ideas like this, but we also need to make a shift as a society away from petroleum based plastics. There are annually renewable sources for plant based plastics now, one of the best being hemp. I would rather use Daniel Burd's invention on bio-platic, that way you know that the end result would be non-toxic. Also, if you've ever tried to compost the corn based plastic, such as forks and plates, you know that it takes a really long time, and Daniel's idea could speed up the process.

Wow, awesome find.

Awesome. This kid rules.

OK, now we just need to spray this stuff all over those giant spinning plastic-filled garbage pits in the middle of the pacific ocean. See http://current.com/search/search.do?indexName=en_us&renderer=jsp&q=garba...

...and no, plastic doesn't ever really "decompose" it "photodegrades" http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php
that is, it just breaks into ever smaller pieces; I picked up a shopping bag filled with... shopping bags the other day that had been sitting in my garage for over a year and they just... *POOF* broke into millions of tiny pieces, every time I tried to grab them, they just turned into dust.

If these microbes do the trick, well, young man, you've saved the world! (or at least part of it)

Inspiring and encouraging!

Good old scientific method to the rescue! The answers are out there, we just need to keep looking and thinking innovatively like this young man! Complancency never saved any civilizations throughout history, don't know how we think it will now...

If it could decompose plastic.. sounds pretty dangerous!

Cool, i guess those kids aren't hyped up on medications like our kids are. Go kid, all i ask is you make it safe.

AWESOME!

I am so lucky to be canadian! Way to go, Daniel!

This is thinking in a way that's on the right track, but not quite there yet. When plastic eventually does decompose, it turns into toxic particles... still not great for the environment.

Smart kid, hopefully it actually gets used to help the world and not just swept under the rug like a lot of other stuff. As long as no big company has something to gain by plastic remaining not biodegradable then we should be good.

Impressive!

Great job kid. This is one step further in our hopes of leading a sustainable life. But this is no good reason for us to increase use of plastic.
Can some of you kids also try nd patch up the Ozone layer?

dsm198. youre just jealous

That is indeed great news!

Too many sea creatures-including birds, had died from mistakenly eating plastic objects similar looking to their own prey. Hopefully this will prevent it from happening.

What if these rare microorganisms are cultured and accidentally released into the environment? After 3 months every synthetic polymer will be decomposed thus rendering us helpless. Sweet.

i still don't get plastic bags at the store anymore but this is a great thing! he should get a noble prize

this is great i want more like this. the older we get the more polluted our minds get. fresh ideas are the best!

There's another way for that similar stuff to decompose at that rate... it's called HEMP, and it has existed for thousands is not millions of years. I hate to say it but this kid solved our problems, yes, because we are too arrogant to use the SIMPLEST solution of all: grow hemp, everywhere!

so yea, good for him, because we suck as a species...

Dude, this is so cool! If I could get more info on how to make them decompose, then my friends and I would totally do this! High fives to this kid!

I've discovered how to make bananas rot at an accelerated pace. Where's my medal?

Wow! What school does this kid go to? Right on!!

PUSH THIS INTO A LAW!

I usually throw my bags in the ocean but I tie them to a rock so they sink to the bottom. Problem solved! That way the fish can live in them too.

I love hearing this, and congratulate the scientist. I do have a couple questions out of curiosity though. Are there ramifications of introducing microorganisms that are "rarely found in nature" into the massive waste management program that would be needed to deal with the number of plastic bags people use in America? Will the bags have to be shipped to central locations, thereby creating more transportation-related carbon emissions? I don't mean to be negative at all, and please pardon my ignorance as a non-scientist, I am just curious about shifting the balances of other factors in the equation. Regardless, this post makes me optimistic for change.

A friendly reminder until something like this is a reality for consumers, please don't take a plastic bag when you can put your just-purchased goods in a reusable tote bag, a pocket or your own hand!

does this mean that plastic is good again....? i hope this does not turn into a reason to keep using petro-chemicals to make stuff. that ship needs to be put to rest once and for all.

cheers to this kid tho!!

innovate. share. enjoy. this kind of thing needs to be licensed under the creative commons or copy-left, so that everyone may have access. the future is coming. smile!!

good point shechak.

If I were ever a professional photosjournalist, I would hope that "getting the perfect picture" would not trump "helping someone in need when i have the chance"

Kid.....I love you O_o

This is what gives me hope for the planet - the next generation of smart, savvy kids who care for the environment. Great Pod!

Man, I can't wait to see what else he has in store for us.

This young scientist needs to continue presenting this experiment in competitions until he gets mass national recognition and funding to put this idea into reality

Hey!! Pull that plastic bag out of that poor turtle's mouth, wouldja??!?! Hope somebody did...

now there just needs to be a way to convince the higher-ups in government that this idea actually works and that is can be a great step towards decreasing our environmental "footprint." Write your congressman!

The internet is going to set us free with more people like Daniel taking this kind of action and posting it for all to see.

Cheers to you Lad!!

Great post. Thanks.

Unbelievable! Awesome! Now let's go fish out all the plastic we've dumped in the pacific ocean and start composting it with these microorganisms.

Brilliant! Now we just need to find a wide scale method of implementing this great technology.

great! Actually plastic does not decompose in 1,000 years, not even 10,000 years. I heard that plastic stay on forever on earth's surface. Please, someone correct me here! I am with no time for a scientific research right now. Thanks!

i've seen alot of potential world building ideas lately, implementing them is a problem. who remembers the british invention awards where there was a machine that produce clean water 4 out or 5 cups. how much do they need that in some parts of the world.

boy done good

This is amazing! But just wait, the government will pay him off to keep quiet one of these days. They always do.

Maybe we can use the bacteria to decompose this plastic Administration...

Brilliant! Too bad he's too young for a Guinness.

RAD! That kid is my hero-

Now if I could only find some micro-organisms...

he just found out how to accelerate the process...

little genius!!

an idea worth looking into...