8 Products You Didn’t Know Were Made From Oil
Oil derived products are ubiquitous. But, do you realize just how common they are? If you think you’ve shed your oil addiction, think again. I guarantee you will find at least one product in this list that surprises you. Products made from oil are more common than you think!
Pray to the oil gods, or they shall prey on you
- Paper Cups - Paper cups are coated with plastic or wax in order to make them waterproof. We know plastic is derived from oil or natural gas, but did you know most wax is too? The type of wax used to waterproof paper cups is polyolefin wax — which is a polymer derived from oil or natural gas.
- Candles - Speaking of wax, did you know that candles are also made from polyolefin wax? A natural alternative to burning polyolefin wax candles are beeswax candles.
- Fruits & Vegetables - That wax coating on your store bought fruits and vegetables is (you guessed it) also made from petroleum. Another good reason to shop at the local farmer’s market or buy Fairtrade!
- Reusable Shopping Bags - Many reusable shopping bags
on the market today are ironically made from the same oil derived materials they are designed to replace. Reusable shopping bags are typically made from non-woven polypropylene — PP or resin ID code 5 for short. While these bags are recyclable, I would recommend purchasing a heavy duty canvas reusable bag instead. Canvas reusable bags are made from cotton, and last longer.
- Detergent - Most commercially available dish, dishwasher, and laundry detergents contain petroleum based surfactants. Surfactants are the part of the detergent that allows them to pull grease and oil from materials. It also increases water penetration while washing clothing. oil free alternatives are Method
- Polyester - You might be wearing oil derived clothing right now! Polyester is derived from PET plastic. The same material as 2 liter soda bottles. As a general rule, most products that start with the prefix “poly” are made of a plastic polymer. If you want to stay away from oil derived fabrics in your clothing, your best choices are hemp or organic cotton clothing.
- Paint - House paint is made from acrylic latex, yes even the so called eco-friendly brands of paint. Eco-friendly paints are otherwise normal paints that do not produce unpleasant, or harmful odors. Eco-friendly paint is typically marketed as Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) free, but they are still derived from oil.
- Foil packaging - Vacuum packed coffee, snack, and chip bags that have a thin metal coating on the interior are actually made of Mylar. Mylar is thinly stretched PET plastic, coated with a thin layer of aluminum, and sometimes finished off with a polyethylene laminate. An alternative to purchasing foodstuffs in Mylar packaging is to shop with reusable containers at farmer’s markets, or the bulk section in your grocery store.
I hope that this list has you thinking about the enormous role oil continues to play in our lives beyond the gas pump, heating our homes, and cooking our food. Together, I hope we can continue to identify more sustainable, eco-friendly alternatives to oil derived products.
Which items were you surprised to find are made of oil? What products would you have put on this list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
That’s interesting Chris, I never thought about foil packaging or paper cups using coatings. It’s obvious, but I didn’t think about it. What does beeswax smell like when you burn beeswax candles?
I personally like the reusable shopping bags made by the UK supermarket Sainsburys. They are very tough and large, unlike the cotton versions I see everyone using.
Dan @ Daily Eco Tipss last blog post..Tip #20 - The Zero-Waste School Lunch
It’s revelations like these that make peak oil that much more scary. Luckily there are normally substitutes for most anything that is made from oil, like you have mentioned. It’s good to remember that most anything that is heavily packaged is heavily reliant on fossil fuels in *all* portions of its life cycle.
From what I remember, beeswax candles do have a slight, but pleasant odor.
chiefs last blog post..Eating on $100 a Week?
Unscented beeswax candles have a very faint honey scent.
Here’s something else that’s scary. I just updated the post with an 8th item, just because I think it’s truly worthy of being on the list. The wax grocers put on fruit to keep it fresh longer is also made from oil.
Oil is not just in the packaging of our food, and as Chief points out, it’s also used to harvest, transport and process our food. Oil is also on our food, in the form of a wax coating. No wonder food prices are scaling with oil prices.
Almost 100 years ago, gasoline was created to “do something useful” with the waste of all the other petroleum products. It would be very interesting if some of the people screaming about how crops planted to be used for biodiesel are cutting in to the food supply measured the cost of petroleum currently used in food production (like wax on fruit, etc.). I wonder how high a food price percentage we’re already paying for petroleum.
Liz Ms last blog post..Biodiesel Algae: Is Pond Scum the Answer?
Liz, it’s a complicated problem for sure. I think algae is going to be a great interim solution to our energy problems. Although, I think hydrogen fuel should be our ultimate goal.
One of my hobbies is fish keeping, and so I know just how quickly algae can be grown… intentionally or otherwise!
Re: food prices and energy costs
I would concur that (at least in the US) food prices increases are highly correlated with increased energy costs. Even large increases in the prices of raw materials (like grains) are a small percentage of the final price we pay at the grocery store.
chiefs last blog post..High Fructose Corn Syrup
I was surprised to find the coating on fruits and vegetables in this list. What I would have also expected to see in the list is the petroleum jelly found in many lip balm products.
Raj Krishnaswamys last blog post..Thermal spray blog layout
Don’t forget many of the shampoos, soaps, lotions, etc we have have petroleum in them–buy biodegradable!
KBOs last blog post..Still Itchy
Petroleum jelly, lip balm, shampoos, soaps, lotions, all very good additions!
There’s a product called Burt’s Bees which is a good alternative for Vaseline and other petroleum jelly products. As far as soaps, shampoos, lotions, if you visit your local Whole Foods or other organics shop they will usually have a section of 100% organic personal care products.
Thank you for the comments.
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The wax coating on paper cups got me to wondering about the wax on wax paper. I try to use wax paper instead of plastic film and wax paper sandwich bags instead of plastic ones. Are they any better? Somewhat better?
Linda As last blog post..Recycling!!
Linda - Wax paper is indeed coated with paraffin wax. Amazon.com carries soy based wax paper. However, there’s still that matter that normal wax paper is both paper AND plastic…
I’m going to be writing an article about this (thanks for the idea!), but the basic gist is a reusable container is always best. Green Guide suggests that reusing a plastic sandwich bag wins out over wax paper.
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