The title of this chapter poses a question: Plastics—what are they good for? And if we think about the pollution that we see in our streets, waterways, and oceans we might answer “not much.” However, by taking a journey through the uses and misuses of plastic materials, our consumption and significantly conspicuous non-consumption of them, as well as how we deal with them at the end of their useful life, this chapter will explore the value placed upon plastic objects and give an insight into why we are in the position we are. The appreciation or reception of materials can create a positive or a negative reaction in the user, and an individual’s understanding of materials comes from their own experiential knowledge, the influence of others, and cultural perception. Empirically, individuals tend to be either nonchalant or have very strong views about this group of materials; Jeffery L. Meikle acknowledges that we have a culturally ambivalent relationship with plastics, as the materials are appreciated “as high-tech miracle and as cheap substitute simultaneously.” For Susan Freinkel, the proliferation and the length of time that plastics have been part of our lives indicates a “deep and enduring relationship.” However, relationships can be both good and bad, and plastics are probably one of the only material groups to generate such extreme diversity and debate.

Cultural relationships with plastics

In a statement ahead of her time, Marion Gough, a journalist for House Beautiful magazine, was keen that the public of the late 1940s should take a rounded view of plastics: not to see them as miracles, but to give them more consideration. She suggested that plastics “need fewer people joyously believing that there’s no ill in the world that plastics can’t cure.” She also reminded the reader that there was a need for more “well-informed critics who refuse to condemn all plastics because some have failed” and that they should take the time to learn about plastics, and what the material could do for them. Gough’s views on plastics at a critical time in their use and development were forward-thinking and balanced.