From War To Peace, From Fight To Entertainment

While wars cause great drama and destruction in world history, it also inspires the discoveries and inventions of scientists and engineers who are pushing the conditions. Every country, every commander wants to win the wars with the least loss as soon as possible These requests put heavy loads on the shoulders of scientists and engineers and turn into an advantage for those who can successfully manage stress.

World War II has witnessed new technology and new types of materials with its long duration and constant balance of power. The most important of these materials is of course plastic. Polyethylene is a plastic that was discovered by chance and was classified as a strategic substance during World War II and its existence was hidden. Polyethylene was started to be produced in the factory in England in 1939, but it was very costly since the production was done under pressure and temperature. During World War II, the presence of this plastic was kept secret when it became clear that polyethylene was a very suitable insulation material for radar cables. The polyethylene used by the Allies in the insulation of long power lines on the radar helped the ships sailing in the Atlantic Ocean of England. Curator Susan Lambert from the Plastic Design Museum at Bournemouth University of Art gave our pilots an advantage and some say it contributed to the outcome of the war. Of course, polyethylene was not only used on radars. Polyethylene is used in parachutes, bombers, turret windows, helmets, ships, tanks and many other areas.

Plastic, which changed the course of the war, accelerated peace, and became the most important product for healing the wounds of social life instead of fighting. Furniture began to be produced quickly, pianos were again raising the notes that isolate the spirits in ruins, organized dance nights and fascinating eyes like a star while women dance with their nylons.

Researchers named the Great Acceleration in the post-1945 period. While nobody heard of television in those years, as a result of the cheapness of television prices in 1949, the use of plastic in television production started to sell 100,000 televisions a week in the USA. Between 1955 and 1965, 42% of Americans used condoms for contraception. In 1965, plastic bags, which became the symbol of plastic, started to be used. Today, 500 billion plastic bags are used annually in the world and they are thrown into nature by human beings and scapegoats become plastic. It's ironic!

Fighting plastic, fighting with a plastic bag has no meaning for human beings. We must learn to live with plastic, which ends wars, is effective from entertainment to general use, and find the formula for controlling ourselves, not plastic. We always express and we will continue to express: Plastic Does Not Walk On Its Own!