Importance of plastics

Officially starting in 3 days’ time, the Summer Olympics 2024 are nearly upon us. As we chat during teatime in the office, much of the conversation turns to these games and the excitement they entail. These conversations also tend to skew towards plastics (we can’t help ourselves) and the new ways...

When was the last time you looked at a traffic cone? I mean, really considered it. Have you thought about how was it made, what is it doing, how did it get where it is? Well, now is your chance. We have a cone on display in our current exhibition, Seen and unseen . The first traffic cone as we know...

This week we are celebrating museums and cultural organizations around the globe by participating in Museum Week 2024. Each day of this week is set apart with a unique theme that encourages art and culture centres, such as MoDiP, to highlight aspects of their collection and everyday activities...

As part of our series of blog posts relating to our Seen and unseen exhibition, I am taking a closer look at the Warning case particularly the Utility barrier. The utility or manhole barrier acts as a warning sign and obstruction to prevent pedestrians from falling into a hole in the ground created...

MoDiP has been really lucky to have had some amazing donations over the years. Sometimes these include objects that we wouldn’t have dreamt that we could have been able to acquire. One such object is on display in our current exhibition, Seen and unseen . The panel on display in the ‘Outside’ case...

A brief look at cycle helmets The brain injury charity, Headway, state that cycle helmets can save lives and prevent people sustain lifelong brain injury. The hard shell is designed to spread the force of an impact over a broader area which reduces the likelihood of the skull fracturing. The softer...

One of the themes in our current exhibition, Seen and unseen , is Microplastics . I thought I would use this blog post to think about what microplastics are and why they are an issue. The case is particularly looking at microfibres which are shed from our clothing. Microplastics are released into...

Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming the Talbot Woods Bright Horizons Nursery group to explore the magic of plastics and benefits of recycling. Our program began with a tour of the library where the students were dazzled by the current library exhibit, Strange Nature: Costumes Inspired by...

The aim of the Seen and unseen exhibition is to show objects that are we perhaps don’t see even though they might be right in front of us, we don’t notice them or pay them much attention. It also has objects that are literally part of the hidden infrastructure that we don’t see because it is under...

Not to be confused with bioplastics, plastics made from renewable biomass resources such as sugarcane or corn, biodegradable plastics are made from materials that have chemicals added that cause the plastic to break down quickly when exposed to air and sunlight, heat or moisture, triggering...

This blog post has been inspired by our current exhibition, Seen and unseen , and one display case in particular, In cars . The use of plastics in cars is not a new phenomenon. In the 1940s, Henry Ford’s investigations resulted in a vehicle described as a ‘plastic car made from soybeans.’ The car’s...

Our latest exhibition, Seen and unseen , looks at objects that use plastics to do a job in such a way that we may not realise that the materials are there or that are so good at their job that we stop paying them too much attention. The first theme featured in the exhibition is, tree management...