When it comes to the global environment today, there is one all important question many home owners need an answer to: Wooden windows or plastic windows which one is better for the environment? The reason this question is important is that, as the world's population increases, the need for housing of all types is also increasing. This means more and more of just about everything that has to do with housing, including windows -- which can be made of wood and plastic, by the way.
The first thing to understand is that the matter involving wooden or plastic windows generally involves the framing in which the glass or other transparent medium sits in. In general, glass is far less environmentally-burdensome because its basic constituent is sand-based and pretty much completely natural. Wood and plastic, though, depending on how they're manufactured, can bring other environmental issues to the fore. In general, though, wood is more natural.
Plastic-framed windows, in many cases, aren't what environmentalists call "biodegradable." That means that the constituent plastics used in the frame will take a very long time to break down and even if they could, the chemicals used to make polyvinyl chloride (plastic) can be extremely toxic. The benefit to plastic windows, if they're disposed of properly, is that they can be easily recycled, though it remains to be seen if plastic should be used in the first place.
Wooden windows can be made in an almost-organic manner in many cases, though the cost of doing so can be higher than the cost of a plastic-framed window. However, the benefit to the environment when a wooden window is used, and when the frame's been coated with the right natural preservative shellacs or lacquers (helping to make sure it lasts a long time) can be significant.
Given all of the considerations that need to be looked at when it comes to wood versus plastic when it comes to just which would be better for the environment, the issue of how easy each is to recycle is probably the most important issue to examine. When disposed of properly, plastic can be recycled as easily as wood, but it isn't biodegradable and the chemicals used to make it are toxic to the environment. Wood degrades, and if it's made organically, it isn't dangerous to the environment, either.
So, then; answering the question (wooden windows or plastic windows which one is better for the environment?) seems easy enough to address. It would seem that, at present, there's really no way to ensure that plastics and the chemicals they're made with can be made less harmful to the environment than wooden windows. That material degrades easily enough and it can be made in a safer manner and then recycled easily, as well, it must be said.
The first thing to understand is that the matter involving wooden or plastic windows generally involves the framing in which the glass or other transparent medium sits in. In general, glass is far less environmentally-burdensome because its basic constituent is sand-based and pretty much completely natural. Wood and plastic, though, depending on how they're manufactured, can bring other environmental issues to the fore. In general, though, wood is more natural.
Plastic-framed windows, in many cases, aren't what environmentalists call "biodegradable." That means that the constituent plastics used in the frame will take a very long time to break down and even if they could, the chemicals used to make polyvinyl chloride (plastic) can be extremely toxic. The benefit to plastic windows, if they're disposed of properly, is that they can be easily recycled, though it remains to be seen if plastic should be used in the first place.
Wooden windows can be made in an almost-organic manner in many cases, though the cost of doing so can be higher than the cost of a plastic-framed window. However, the benefit to the environment when a wooden window is used, and when the frame's been coated with the right natural preservative shellacs or lacquers (helping to make sure it lasts a long time) can be significant.
Given all of the considerations that need to be looked at when it comes to wood versus plastic when it comes to just which would be better for the environment, the issue of how easy each is to recycle is probably the most important issue to examine. When disposed of properly, plastic can be recycled as easily as wood, but it isn't biodegradable and the chemicals used to make it are toxic to the environment. Wood degrades, and if it's made organically, it isn't dangerous to the environment, either.
So, then; answering the question (wooden windows or plastic windows which one is better for the environment?) seems easy enough to address. It would seem that, at present, there's really no way to ensure that plastics and the chemicals they're made with can be made less harmful to the environment than wooden windows. That material degrades easily enough and it can be made in a safer manner and then recycled easily, as well, it must be said.
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