Plastic and Turtles

I've been reading the new Lucy Siegle book on plastics called Turning the tide on Plastic'. It's well-written and has some important statistics and other information on our relationship with plastics.

You can hear Lucy reading an extract below to set the scene for the book.
One of the stories from the book which I found 'quite interesting', as they say was a link between plastics and turtles.

One of the first plastics to be patented and produced was called Parkesine, patented by Alexander Parkes in 1866.
He was also responsible for the waterproof coating that was used in the original Mackintosh raincoats.
The reason that Parkesine was invented was to reduce the need to use tortoiseshell or ivory for the many button and collar stiffeners which were used in shirts and other clothing.
The tortoiseshell was made from turtle shells in fact.
The Olive Ridley turtle was particularly affected by this trade in shells.



There's an irony in that one of the species affected by plastic bags (in lots of heart-rending images) is the turtle...