Ya what?

Sustainable - like hell it is!
I was watching a programme on the telly last night about a National Trust property where the old walled garden on the property was being put back in to use to grow produce for sale and use in the visitor restaurant. That in itself is laudable - maybe! But then it went on with lots of waffling on about the sustainable locally ecologically grown organic produce and then..., they showed us the two new POLY TUNNELS!!!!!!

Where do they think polythene comes from?

So the whole idea is about as sustainable as an ice cream on a sunny day and ecological as a land fill.

Petroleum By-products
But it got me thinking. Polythene is a by-product of petroleum, so when the oil runs out we loose polythene - At last no more plastic bags! - I wonder what else we get from oil?

Well apart from the obvious fuels, there are less obvious things at each end of the oil spectrum like benzine or tar. So what are we going to make roads with when we don't have tar?

But the list is huge; nylon, acetate, ethylene, polyesters, detergents, polyurethane, PVC, glycol (anti-freeze), even paraffin wax and many, many more items. So when the oil runs out we don't just have to worry about not having a car we're going to loose thousands of other things at the same time.

Just think:

1. Nearly all children's toys are made from plastic. Not for very much longer.
2. Planning on using a candle when the power goes off - Nope, no wax!
3. Many medicines and cosmetics will vanish
4. No oil based paints, glues and solvents
5. Much fewer synthetic (hard wearing) cloths and materials
6. No more oil based food preservatives
7. No more oil based detergents, cleaners and disinfectants
8. And just in case your not in a state of panic yet, no more bicycle tyres. They're not just rubber they are nylon too and nylon comes from oil.
9. If you wish to see a more comprehensive list of the products we will loose when oil runs out follow this link Ranken Energy
   

I did a search on Google for "organic replacements for petroleum based products" and guess what, it says "NO RESULTS FOUND". Which just about sums up the effort being made to cope with the major problems we have waiting for us just around the corner!