Materials focus: What is Vinyl anyway?

In August we will be focusing on vinyl and the trashion team members who revision it as an central part of their art. Which leads me to ask:

What is Vinyl anyway?


The word comes from the Latin vinum = "wine", because of its relationship with alcohol (in its original sense of ethyl alcohol).

A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group (also called ethenyl), -CH=CH2. These are derivatives of ethylene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom substituted with some other group.

Where have you seen vinyl?

When someone says vinyl, I immediately think of a gramophone record, or vinyl record. A vinyl record is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the center of the disc.

Vinyl has found many applications in the medical world because of its non-hazardous properties. Vinyl is commonly used for making the following medical products; Intravenous Fluid Bags and containers, bags, Goggles, Caps, Inhalation Masks, Mouthpieces, Dialysis Equipment, Medical Sealants, Ear Protectors, Thermal Blankets, Gloves, and Valves.

Look around your home, and the houses in your neighborhood you may be amazed to discover that almost 60% of all vinyl made in the United States is used in construction and furnishings.*
Here are some of the applications of vinyl in construction; Siding and window frames, Roofing, Gutters and down spouts, Coverings for walls and floors, Piping for water distribution, sewage, and irrigation systems, Fencing, railing, and decking, Insulation of wiring, Electrical conduit, and Fire sprinkler piping.

That's an enormous amount of material people could be adding to landfills, which by the way are commonly lined with Vinyl (as see in the image to the right, they are laying the vinyl to develop a landfill). Which is where the artisans of Trashion Street Team come in!

*Statistic quoted from