Good news! IBM researchers discovered a way to make plastic from plants that could replace petrolium-based products that leave a rather large ecological footprint. Researchers said the plastic would be completely biodegradable. Even the production process is simple and less energy consuming than fossil-based plastic.

"This discovery and new approach using organic catalysts could lead to well-defined, biodegradable molecules made from renewable resources in an environmentally responsible way," IBM said in a release.

Details of the research are published this week in the American Chemical Society journal Macromolecules.

Via WBCSD