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    Plastic: A Toxic Love Story
    Unavailable
    Plastic: A Toxic Love Story
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    Plastic: A Toxic Love Story
    Audiobook10 hours

    Plastic: A Toxic Love Story

    Written by Susan Freinkel

    Narrated by Pam Ward

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

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    About this audiobook

    Plastic built the modern world. Where would we be without bike helmets, baggies, toothbrushes, and pacemakers? But a century into our love affair with plastic, we're starting to realize it's not such a healthy relationship. Plastics draw dwindling fossil fuels, leach harmful chemicals, litter landscapes, and destroy marine life.

    As journalist Susan Freinkel points out in this engaging and eye-opening book, we're nearing a crisis point. We're drowning in the stuff, and we need to start making some hard choices. Freinkel gives us the tools we need with a blend of lively anecdotes and analysis. She combs through scientific studies and economic data, reporting from China and across the United States to assess the real impact of plastic on our lives. She tells her story through eight familiar plastic objects: comb, chair, Frisbee, IV bag, disposable lighter, grocery bag, soda bottle, and credit card. Her conclusion: we cannot stay on our plastic-paved path. Plastic points the way toward a new creative partnership with the material we love to hate but can't seem to live without.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateApr 18, 2011
    ISBN9781611200621
    Author

    Susan Freinkel

    Susan Freinkel has written for the New York Times, Discover, Smithsonian, and Health, among other publications. She is the author of American Chestnut, which Mary Roach called a perfect book and Richard Preston described as a beautifully written account filled with top-notch writing and reporting.

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    Reviews for Plastic

    4/5

    14 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A detailed look at the modern world's infatuation with plastic and the mess it's leaving behind. The author looks at plastics through several small items that are so commonplace most of us probably don't think about them, starting with the comb, and working her way up to that icon of anti-environmentalism, bottled water. She researched her story well, and writes in an interesting, engaging fashion. The only weakness is her tendency to take too many people at their word. There are many places where she does question received wisdom, but the minute they have a "scientific study" she accepts the findings without digging any further. Otherwise, a valuable piece of work.
    • 3/5
      Well-written, easily understandable pop-sci take on our plastic lives. I learned some things, was graphically reminded of others, and renewed my acquaintance with the cleverly named but disastrous nurdle.

      Freinkel gives us a snapshot of the current state of plastic use, reuse and toxicity. Well worth reading, but I suspect it's a book that's going to need to be rewritten every couple of years as things change.
    • 4/5
      An in-depth, but very readable look at plastics, and both their wonderful properties and their worrying ones. Each chapter starts with a particular plastic object that serves as a jumping-off point to discuss various relevant topics, and although this makes for a rather loose structure, it works very well. The chapter centered on a Frisbee, for example, takes us to the plant where the toys are produced and leads into a general exploration of plastics manufacturing. A soda bottle left out for curbside collection starts up a complex discussion about plastics recycling and also the creation of new "biodegradable" plastics. A plastic IV bag demonstrates the life-saving medical applications of plastic, but also brings up the problem of potentially dangerous chemical contamination from plastics, both in hospitals and elsewhere. And so on.It's all much more interesting than you might expect a book about plastics to be, in part because it brings up some very important environmental, economic, and public health issues, and in part because it's just incredibly eye-opening to take a closer look at this stuff that we tend to take completely for granted, stuff that's had a much bigger impact on our lives and our society than we realize. When you take a careful look around you, it's truly astonishing how all-pervasive plastics are in the modern world, and even more astonishing when you consider the fact that the substances didn't even exist until a couple of generations ago.My one complaint about the book is the lack of illustrations. The chapter centering on plastic chairs, which talks about how designers work with plastic, desperately needed some pictures. I ended up having to look up images of the various chairs she was describing on the internet, just to be able to get any sense of the kinds of designs she was talking about, and there are a few other places in the book that could have benefited from a well-chosen illustration or two, as well. But, all in all, that's a minor (if somewhat annoying) flaw in a highly worthwhile book.
    • 4/5
      This book takes us through the history of plastic, the different types of plastics and how they are made; and it focuses on certain common plastic items, such as: Frisbee, comb, chair, lighters, shopping bags, bottles and medical supplies. I really liked this. It was very interesting. There were some sections of chemistry that I maybe didn’t quite “get” (or even if I did while I was reading it, I can’t recall it now), but overall, this was very readable. Other topics in this book include “bioplastics”, the effect on wildlife and the oceans, plastic (i.e. credit) cards, etc. Personally, I’ve been trying for a while now to buy less plastic, but it is pretty much impossible to cut it out; it’s so entrenched.
    • 4/5
      A detailed look at the modern world's infatuation with plastic and the mess it's leaving behind. The author looks at plastics through several small items that are so commonplace most of us probably don't think about them, starting with the comb, and working her way up to that icon of anti-environmentalism, bottled water. She researched her story well, and writes in an interesting, engaging fashion. The only weakness is her tendency to take too many people at their word. There are many places where she does question received wisdom, but the minute they have a "scientific study" she accepts the findings without digging any further. Otherwise, a valuable piece of work.
    • 4/5
      What an utterly interesting book, subdivided interestingly as well: by noteworthy plastic product, ordered by progressive toxicity to Earth and life. The research is phenomenal and I learned something new, different and thought-provoking in every chapter. While reading, I discovered more material to read on the subject. I'll get after those. Plastic Beach looks interesting. The Pacific Garbage Patch is something I need to see with my own eyes. It's on the Bucket List.
    • 4/5
      I really liked Susan's book. She was informative, mildly humorous, and straightforward. Susan presented a history of plastics, a story of six different plastic items including the chair, comb, bag, frisbee, bottle, and credit card. She then looked at efforts related to dealing with biodegradable plastics and its impact on the planet. She was well researched and provided a level analysis of the issues related to plastics including the impact on wildlife, the environment, and on technological advances. I was interested in how recycling takes place as well as the manufacturing of plastics and she covered some information on these topics. I firmly recommend this book to anyone who lives on planet earth and uses plastic.
    • 5/5
      Rarely is there a book which says five stars right from the beginning and never veers from that ranking. This book from Susan Freinkel is absolutely such a work. It is first rate popular science, brimming with copious research but never stooping to that great folly of many non-fiction writers: “I researched this subject to death and by golly every detail is going to be shoe-horned in somewhere!” Quite on the contrary, facts flow seamlessly through an easy-going chronicle of the topic.In the course of chapters titled after and loosely based around common plastic items Ms. Freinkel walks her reader through plastic’s design history (the ubiquitous green stacking chair), BPA controversy (IV bags and tubing), cultural history (Frisbee), environmental impact (T-shirt bags), and indestructibility (disposable lighters), among other objects and issues. Coverage of the chemistry involved in the manufacturing of various plastics is especially well done-easily accessible to any reader of popular science with just the right balance of detail and narrative flow.A book of this nature could clearly become a platform for virulent environmentalism, and it is apparent that the author cares deeply about the environmental impact of plastic. However, she gives balanced press to a plethora of individuals from organizations as diverse as grassroots activists lobbying for bottle taxes to the owner of a Chinese plastic factory. It becomes clear that the issue is many-sided and complicated by many factors.Plastics play a huge role in our modern world. This book is a short run through the tide they have become. Without a doubt there will be much here that will surprise and enlighten, and you think twice about just about every object that you encounter throughout your average day. If you read one popular science book this year, choose this one for its sheer relevance.
    • 4/5
      Have you ever tried to go a day without touching anything that's made out of plastic? Susan Freinkel wanted to do just that, but was soon confronted with the fact that there is no way she could avoid plastic in everyday life. From your toothbrush to the dashboard of your car, from the pen you're holding to shrinkwrapped lettuce at the supermarket. Plastic is everywhere.Plastic: A Toxic Love Story presents not only the history of plastic, but also the economic and environmental impact this invention has on our lives. Focusing on eight familiar plastic objects such as a comb, IV-bag, soda bottle and credit-card, Freinkel tells the stories behind each of them, from production to the sales floor straight to the consumer, from the wonders they do and the harm they can bring.Engagingly written and highly informative this book presents a balanced overview on our dependency on plastic. It is not only convenient, but quite often indispensable, freeing us from the limits natural materials impose. Though far too often this freedom comes at a cost. Especially the chapter about the IV-bags has been an eye-opener for me - they save lives while at the same time harming through toxics that keep the bag soft. The book does not offer easy solutions other then the necessity to rethink our relationship with the material world, but maybe that's the first and most important step after all.In short: A fascinating journey through our plasticized lives!
    • 5/5
      This book follows the “life” story of several different common plastic items. Through these various stories, you get to see how plastic was invented, how they came up with ideas for some of the plastic items, the impact plastic is having on the planet, and the impact plastic is having on our bodies.One of the things that I really liked about this book was that it wasn’t the type of book where they shove their beliefs down your throat. Instead, Susan Freinkel treats the reader as an intelligent person who can make their own choices. She is merely imparting the research that she has found on plastics and our lives.There were a few things that disturbed me though. I did not realize how many toxic chemicals are now residing in our bodies. I do wonder if it is all due to plastic or if our other harmful habits could be contributing to this.This book will help you to become a more informed consumer.In conjunction with the Wakela's World Disclosure Statement, I received a product in order to enable my review. No other compensation has been received. My statements are an honest account of my experience with the brand. The opinions stated here are mine alone