Carbohydrates or "Carbs" are not only essential components of a balanced diet, providing energy and fibre, but can also provide the raw materials to produce useful, biodegradable "eco"polymers . Jayne explains..
Carbohydrates are an important source of energy. It is often thought that we should reduce our carbohydrate intake . However this is only really true if we are consuming too much of the wrong carb type.
Simpler carbohydrates, like glucose are broken down and release energy for essential chemical reactions in our cells.
Toucan Party Reusable Screw Top Bamboo Composite Travel Mug - Bamboo - The Campfire Cooking Company
Simple sugar : a monosaccharide close up
A molecule of alpha glucose. Rotate and zoom into the model to view it.
Pairing up..
Polysaccharides
Natural polymers
The vast bulk of the modern man made polymers used in everyday life are derived from crude oil. Whilst properties like impermeability and insolubility in water are often what makes them useful, it is also these very properties that create a very large pollution problem . Many of nature's own polymers such as Chitin and Cellulose can be adapted to replace synthetic polymers and can also be made biodegradable.