Oil from Plastic

...we could just cut down on the amount of plastic boottles produced and use the petroleum saved to make even more oils and lubricants. Don't get me wrong, I support reclaiming plastic bottles, especially since they are the most under recycled of the "recyclable" commodities (how many park benches do we really need?), but the best way to cut down the waste would be to get people to drink tap water again...or reuse the Dasani bottles the just bought for $1.50. The water in most parts of the US is of very good quality, and many of our "favorite" bottled waters are simply tap water that has been filtered a second time.

Trying to reduce consumption of any kind is hard, if not nearly impossible, to do in the US. I do think that the reason so many people drink bottled water is because it is either that or soda, and they are making a healthy (for them) choice. You don't see to many public water fountains anymore in parks or other public areas.

You are absolutely correct. I used to work in the petroleum industry and it was common knowledge that all of the big oil companies had two divisions; oil and plastic. When the price of oil was up, they diverted production to gasoline. When the price was down, they focused on the production of plastics, which was easy and safer to store, kept the price of gas up and still provided a good income for the company. Also, I always reuse my plastic bottles several times before recycling. The whole dioxin scare is just a hoax.

The Dioxin scare, that microwaving food in plastic will release carcinogens, is just another paranoid fear. Most plastics don't even contain dioxins.
As for using gas for plastics, most people don't realize that plastic is made from petroleum! They think that higher gas prices only affect them at the pumps, but its used to make plastics, asphalt and even cosmetics. Gasoline and natural gas are just the tip of the iceberg.

Here's a very informative interview with a researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health debunking the dioxin scare.