In the past few decades, particularly as automobiles and mass transportation have made us utterly mobile, plastic foodservice products have become part of what we do and where we do it. They’re a part of our culture, reflected not only in our meals and mobility, but in our art, song, movies, sports, humanitarianism efforts and more.

Check out a few ways these iconic products are reflected in our culture:

As a medium for professional (and some not so professional) art:

Watch Michael Dee work on a new piece on site at Plastics Makes it Possible’s “Fresh Faces in Fashion” event at LA Rock Fashion Week. Created from plastic foodservice products, his sculpture took a few hours to create from start to finish—see it here in time-lapsed motion from beginning to end…and hear Michael discuss the benefits of working with plastic.

Watch artist Cheeming Boey transform plastic foam cups into works of art (…and check out the video): http://iamboey.com/

And the news article on Boey…

As a muse for songwriters:

Emo band Death Cab for Cutie weaves imagery of plastic plates into their powerful song “Styrofoam Plates” (incorrectly used, to be sure—Styrofoam® is actually a Dow brand for some of its non-foodservice polystyrene products):

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-photo-album/id275534926

As storytelling visuals for moviemakers:

In the classic horror movie “Jaws”, who can forget the scene when shark hunter Quint crushes a beer can in his hand, followed by scientist Hooper’s valiant response: pulverizing a plastic foam cup?

An essential refreshment for athletes and spectators:

As a sanitary, effective way to deliver food during humanitarian efforts:

One of the immediate needs during natural disasters, such as Haiti’s earthquake and Hurricane Katrina, is delivering food and water quickly to survivors. Emergency response crews and humanitarian groups rely on cost-effective, sanitary plastic foodservice packaging to deliver hope in times of trouble.