Look at all the things around you: your classroom tables, your phone case, even your clothing. How much of it is made of plastic? Really. Look. At the beginning of the 20th century, the answer would have been “none,” because the first synthetic plastic didn’t come on the scene until 1907. Humankind seemed to be doing quite all right without this now ubiquitous material, but its invention actually saved the lives of many elephants due to the self-interest of pool ball manufacturers.