Can we create these same everyday products without petroleum?

Question

http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%20from%20Petroleum.htm

Seems to me, that an entrepreneurial type might do well in business, if he/she were to make viable alternatives using a cradle-to-cradle model. Just think of all of the patents in the USPTO database just waiting to be revised :):):)

Answer 1

If many products were not treated as 'everyday' but kept until they wore out, fewer would be made. I know people who have re-built their kitchen because the existing one was 'So last year!'.

Petroleum is not as scarce a resource as metal and wood. But it can be used to make products that break sooner. Suggesting a tax on the souces of plastics production would be a political non-starter, I fear.

(Keep me posted on wooden condom production

!)

I like clothing products involving string.

Answer 2

well back in our grandma's day what did they use for laundry soap and cleaners and make up and etc....

Baking Soda for Household

White Vinegar with lemon juice or other scents for disinfectant and general cleaning

Washing soda or glycerin soap for laundry....

No petro needed for one of the main day to day resource hogs..

Answer 3

Laundry detergent is petroleum based.  I suggest stop using it.  That is cool and a great idea.  I suggest a LaundryPure;

It saves our water from harmful chemicals.  I don't even separate darks from lights!  I use a LaundryPure and even ditched laundry soap altogether.  I have two kids and a stinky husband.  Nothing has ever worked better, see it under water products below:

http://www.ecoquestintl.com/dealer_home/...

http://www.freshmenz.com

Answer 4

there are some kinds of plastics that can be made from plant by product(i dont think they are technically plastics, but have the same properties). these can only be used to replace certain types of plastic and are more expensive . as for the other things most of it can be replaced(as most of these things were around before widespread use of petroleum products) but it would be much more expensive and not as practical, which is why they switched to petroleum products in the first place.

Answer 5

No it is not easy to replace oil, gas and coal as raw materials for everyday products.  That is why it is so scandalous to burn them wastefully in cars and electricity generators.  On top of this, burning fossil resources creates CO2 which by feeding global warming is causing more social and economic damage.

As raw materials these fossil resources are extremely valuable but unless we stop wasting them they will become unavailable to our children and grandchildren.

We need to reduce our use of fossil resources and use sustainable sources of power for electricity generation.  The best are wind, wave, tide, hydro and solar sources.

We also need to reduce use of these resources by buying less stuff.  It is true that this will lead to a slow down in world economies but the alternative to a slow down is a crash.

I'm glad you have mentioned the business opportunities that exist in seeking replacements for these fossil resources.  Certainly the development of sustainable power is one such opportunity and there are many other opportunities in finding ways to use fossil resources more efficiently or not at all.  But we need to be careful not to jump from the frying pan into the fire.  For example the growing of crops to turn into fuel for cars is a bad idea because it pushes up the price of food and delays the development of public transport and reduced reliance on cars.  We need technology to get us through these problems but the main solution is to reduce the amount of stuff we buy, re-use as much as possible and re-cycle what we can not use.

Best wishes