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A review by sortabadass
Plastic: A Toxic Love Story by Susan Freinkel
5.0
Freinkel follows the model of dissecting a topic by assigning iconic representatives to its components. Michael Pollan did this to great effect in [b:The Botany of Desire|13839|The Botany of Desire A Plant's-Eye View of the World|Michael Pollan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320488029s/13839.jpg|908398], and Plastic: A Toxic Love Story shows that this structure is popular because it works.
Each of her eight chapters is assigned to a common plastic item, from comb to credit card. Not only is the history of the item engagingly described -- who knew the politics of furniture design could be so fascinating? -- but each chapter also describes a deleterious effect linked with our increasingly plasticized world. Chapter Four: "Humans Are Just a Little Plastic Now" resonated the most with me: it described the miracle of the IV bag and PVC tubing, breakthroughs that have saved countless lives since World War II. But these godsent materials are now linked to long-term damage disruption in liver and endocrine function, begging the question "at what price victory?"
Overall, I found Freinkel's treatment of her subject even-handed. Mild-mannered "green" ideas were debunked as frequently as the American Chemistry Council's party line. I wish I could say that everything was wrapped up into some easy-to-learn lessons, but that wouldn't do justice to the complicated nature of plastic.
Quotes
The insistent focus on the flaws of each individual study ignores -- and obscures -- how each may be contributing to an increasingly disturbing body of evidence. The nitpicking zeroes in on and tries to amp up the uncertainty that is always inherent in science. It's a strategy taken straight from the tobacco industry, and one that, incredibly enough, was committed to paper in 1969 by an executive at the cigarette maker Brown and Williamson: "Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the mind of the general public."
We invest something of ourselves in our material world, which in turn reflects who we are. In the era of disposability that plastic has helped foster, we have increasingly invested ourselves in objects that have no real meaning in our lives.
Each of her eight chapters is assigned to a common plastic item, from comb to credit card. Not only is the history of the item engagingly described -- who knew the politics of furniture design could be so fascinating? -- but each chapter also describes a deleterious effect linked with our increasingly plasticized world. Chapter Four: "Humans Are Just a Little Plastic Now" resonated the most with me: it described the miracle of the IV bag and PVC tubing, breakthroughs that have saved countless lives since World War II. But these godsent materials are now linked to long-term damage disruption in liver and endocrine function, begging the question "at what price victory?"
Overall, I found Freinkel's treatment of her subject even-handed. Mild-mannered "green" ideas were debunked as frequently as the American Chemistry Council's party line. I wish I could say that everything was wrapped up into some easy-to-learn lessons, but that wouldn't do justice to the complicated nature of plastic.
Spoiler
Quotes
The insistent focus on the flaws of each individual study ignores -- and obscures -- how each may be contributing to an increasingly disturbing body of evidence. The nitpicking zeroes in on and tries to amp up the uncertainty that is always inherent in science. It's a strategy taken straight from the tobacco industry, and one that, incredibly enough, was committed to paper in 1969 by an executive at the cigarette maker Brown and Williamson: "Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the 'body of fact' that exists in the mind of the general public."
We invest something of ourselves in our material world, which in turn reflects who we are. In the era of disposability that plastic has helped foster, we have increasingly invested ourselves in objects that have no real meaning in our lives.