Plastic is a ball: Look how far plastic technology has come. We wouldn't have these cool balls without its invention 100 years ago. (Photo by Liethwalker)Benjamin Braddock, Dustin Hoffman’s character in the film “The Graduate,” should have listened to that sage piece of advice…that the wave of the future was plastics.

It’s proven to be quite a resilient substance. This year marks 100th anniversary of the creation of the plastic. Can you think of a day in your life that plastic hasn’t played some important part of?

Inventor of the process of making plastic – Leo Baekeland – created the process of developing phenol-formaldehyde polymer resin in 1907. The new material found new uses over the quickly as rayon, cellophane, PVC and polyethylene, to name just a few.

Sticking around: New and new uses are being found for plastic, even in its 100th year. These hay bales in Ireland are wrapped in plastic to keep the moisture out. (Photo by bigeoino)And it’s probably going to be around for a while longer. New coming uses for plastic, things that are still in the development stages, include plastic hemoglobin-like material that can be used in human blood and airplane parts that can change shape depending on the weather and air conditions that a plane is flying through.

With all that development, however, there are still some big challenges. Only about 10 percent of all plastic is recycled, which means a growing supply of plastic wastes that have to be dealt with in a reasonable fashion.

So if you’re looking for a reason to have a party, why not celebrate plastic’s 100th birthday!