Bubble wrap was a product initially designed to be a form of wallpaper. Instead, it became a staple of packaging and shipping anything worldwide.
Bubble wrap is a transparent surface of small, tightly packed plastic air bubbles forming a squishy layer of light but protective material. It is utilized today within shipping boxes as a means of cushioning the items inside. The packager of the item will wrap the precious cargo in a layer of bubble wrap that acts as a highly protective means of ensuring the item's safe travel. Its use protects fragile contents across the globe from breaking and causing the damage of millions of dollars' worth of product.
In 1957, Mark Chavannes and Alfred Fielding sought to devise a new style of wallpaper, which acted as a good sealing layer, such as between shower curtains. However, through its development, the inventors discovered that it was bubble wrap's texture and physical qualities rather than look that made it an incredibly useful material. And on top of that, many have capitalized on the entertaining uses of bubble wrap as people find great satisfaction and amusement in popping individual bubbles.
However, there are ultimately downsides to utilizing such volumes of plastic for everyday worldwide shipping. Processing this huge amount of polyethylene has significant environmental implications as their improper disposal after shipping can result in its digestion by animals and littering of the Earth. For reasons such as this, products used for purposes other than what was originally intended can have great societal benefits such as postal protection yet can also grossly effect the planet in a negative way, which nobody saw coming until the effects were already very real.