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A few things to remember about plastic:
1. Most of it is made from oil, which is getting less cheap all the time.
2. Most of it cannot be re-cycled filling up our landfills. Almost all metal can be re-cycled.
3. There are many applications where metal was used in the past and worked far better than the present plastic that is used-car hubcaps, car radiators, etc. I speak from experience-my 1978 Mustang radiator lasted 25 years, the hubcaps are still the originals. On my wife's car, the plastic hubcaps and radiator began failing at 5 years. I do not think the weight difference is enough to justify this kind of crap.
Many times, US industry takes a very short term view. Plastic may seem cheap in the short term, but will actually turn out to be more expensive for the consumer and society as a whole long term.
This said, the most irritating use of plastic to me is it's use in packaging. You have to practically cut the packaging off, and then it goes straight to a landfill-what a waste. Cardboard would work just as well and could be re-cycled.
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