Bubble Wrap is loved by all, and today — the 11th annual Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day — is the day to show it. Bubble Wrap — now marking its 51st year — was originally intended to be used as textured wallpaper, but that didn't go over so well. Inventor Marc Chavannes had his "eureka" moment while he was on an airplane over Newark Airport and he noticed how the billowy clouds appeared to be cushioning the plane. He realized his invention would be better than paper and old newspapers for protecting fragile items.
Now, Sealed Air says it produces enough Bubble Wrap each year to stretch from the Earth to the Moon and back.
The company also holds a Young Inventor's Contest annually, encouraging students in grades six to eight nationwide to create a new use for Bubble Wrap. The top three winners receive a savings bond ranging from $3,000 to $10,000 and a trip to New York. The school also receives $5,000.
Last year's winning idea came from a student in Minneapolis, who suggested using it as a Petri dish. This year's competition launches today.
For more ideas, visit bubblewrapfun.com or facebook. com/OfficialBubbleWrap.
Fun facts
* One of the most unusual items Bubble Wrap has protected was an 815-pound pumpkin, nicknamed "Gourdzilla," at a pumpkin-dropping contest on Halloween 2000 in Iowa. The pumpkin stayed intact despite being dropped onto Bubble Wrap from a 35-foot-tall crane.
* The product has made cameos in several films, such as "Wall-E," "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult," "Liar Liar" and "Dude, Where’s My Car?"
* According to bubblewrapfun.com’s online survey, one-third of fans prefer the "one-bubble-at-a-time" popping method. Second most popular is to grasp the sheet and twist.
— Alexis Tarrazi
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill
