Download or read book Why Do We Recycle written by Frank Ackerman and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2013-04-15 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The earnest warnings of an impending "solid waste crisis" that permeated the 1980s provided the impetus for the widespread adoption of municipal recycling programs. Since that time America has witnessed a remarkable rise in public participation in recycling activities, including curbside collection, drop-off centers, and commercial and office programs. Recently, however, a backlash against these programs has developed. A vocal group of "anti-recyclers" has appeared, arguing that recycling is not an economically efficient strategy for addressing waste management problems. In Why Do We Recycle? Frank Ackerman examines the arguments for and against recycling, focusing on the debate surrounding the use of economic mechanisms to determine the value of recycling. Based on previously unpublished research conducted by the Tellus Institute, a nonprofit environmental research group in Boston, Massachusetts, Ackerman presents an alternative view of the theory of market incentives, challenging the notion that setting appropriate prices and allowing unfettered competition will result in the most efficient level of recycling. Among the topics he considers are: externality issues -- unit pricing for waste disposal, effluent taxes, virgin materials subsidies, advance disposal fees the landfill crisis and disposal facility siting container deposit ("bottle bill") legislation environmental issues that fall outside of market theory calculating costs and benefits of municipal recycling programs life-cycle analysis and packaging policy -- Germany's "Green Dot" packaging system and producer responsibility the impacts of production in extractive and manufacturing industries composting and organic waste management economics of conservation, and material use and long-term sustainability Ackerman explains why purely economic approaches to recycling are incomplete and argues for a different kind of decisionmaking, one that addresses social issues, future as well as present resource needs, and non-economic values that cannot be translated into dollars and cents. Backed by empirical data and replete with specific examples, the book offers valuable guidance for municipal planners, environmental managers, and policymakers responsible for establishing and implementing recycling programs. It is also an accessible introduction to the subject for faculty, students, and concerned citizens interested in the social, economic, and ethical underpinnings of recycling efforts.
Download or read book The Virtues of the Table written by Julian Baggini and published by Granta Books. This book was released on 2014-01-02 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How we eat, farm and shop for food is not only a matter of taste. Our choices regarding what we eat involve every essential aspect of our human nature: the animal, the sensuous, the social, the cultural, the creative, the emotional and the intellectual. Thinking seriously about food requires us to consider our relationship to nature, to our fellow animals, to each other and to ourselves. So can thinking about food teach us about being virtuous, and can what we eat help us to decide how to live? From the author of The Ego Trick and The Pig that Wants to be Eaten comes a thought-provoking exploration of our values and vices. What can fasting teach us about autonomy? Should we, like Kant, 'dare to know' cheese? Should we take media advice on salt with a pinch of salt? And can food be more virtuous, more inherently good, than art?
Download or read book The Waste Fix written by William G. Little and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-03-11 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2002. This book explores the philosophical, social, and aesthetic implications of twentieth-century America's obsession with eliminating waste. Through interdisciplinary engagement with fiction and popular culture, William Little traces the way this obsession finds expression in powerful social forces (e.g., the drive to consume conspicuously; the Progressive-era campaign to manage scientifically; the current demand to "reduce, reuse, recycle"), and shows how such forces are governed by an idealism that links proper treatment of waste with the promise of salvation.
Download or read book Discard Studies written by Max Liboiron and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-05-24 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An argument that social, political, and economic systems maintain power by discarding certain people, places, and things. Discard studies is an emerging field that looks at waste and wasting broadly construed. Rather than focusing on waste and trash as the primary objects of study, discard studies looks at wider systems of waste and wasting to explore how some materials, practices, regions, and people are valued or devalued, becoming dominant or disposable. In this book, Max Liboiron and Josh Lepawsky argue that social, political, and economic systems maintain power by discarding certain people, places, and things. They show how the theories and methods of discard studies can be applied in a variety of cases, many of which do not involve waste, trash, or pollution. Liboiron and Lepawsky consider the partiality of knowledge and offer a theory of scale, exploring the myth that most waste is municipal solid waste produced by consumers; discuss peripheries, centers, and power, using content moderation as an example of how dominant systems find ways to discard; and use theories of difference to show that universalism, stereotypes, and inclusion all have politics of discard and even purification—as exemplified in “inclusive” efforts to broaden the Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, they develop a theory of change by considering “wasting well,” outlining techniques, methods, and propositions for a justice-oriented discard studies that keeps power in view.
Download or read book Recycling written by Viqi Wagner and published by Greenhaven Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2009-03-06 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The collection of essays that editor Viqi Wagner has compiled for your readers will get them thinking critically about our world and the things we need to be doing in relation to recycling. The Economist essay defines the benefits of recycling, insisting the benefits outweigh the costs. Another essay reports the exact opposite. By reading divergent viewpoints, readers will be able to form intelligent opinions about recycling.
Download or read book The Economics of Waste written by Richard C. Porter and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this concise, engaging, and provocative work, Richard Porter introduces readers to the economic tools that can be applied to problems involved in handling a diverse range of waste products from business and households. Emphasizing the impossibility of achieving a zero-risk environment, Porter focuses on the choices that apply in real world decisions about waste. Acknowledging that effective waste policy integrates knowledge from several disciplines, Porter focuses on the use of economic analysis to reveal the costs of different policies and therefore how much can be done to meet goals to protect human health and the environment. With abundant examples, he considers subjects such as landfills, incineration, and illegal disposal. He discusses the international trade in waste, the costs and benefits of recycling, and special topics such as hazardous materials, Superfund, and nuclear waste. While making clear his belief that not every form of waste presents the same amount of risk, Porter stresses the need for open-minded approaches to developing new policies. For students, policymakers, and general readers, he provides insight and accessibility to a subject that others might leave out-of-sight, out-of-mind, or buried under an impenetrable prose of statistics and jargon.
Download or read book The Consumer s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices written by Michael Brower and published by Harmony. This book was released on 2009-11-04 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From one of the most prestigious nonprofit organizations devoted to environmental issues comes a clear, practical, and rational overview of the relationship between consumers and the environment. Paper or plastic? Bus or car? Old house or new? Cloth diapers or disposables? Some choices have a huge impact on the environment; others are of negligible importance. To those of us who care about our quality of life and what is happening to the earth, this is a vastly important issue. In these pages, the Union of Concerned Scientists help inform consumers about everyday decisions that significantly affect the environment. For example, a few major decisions--such as the choice of a house or vehicle--have such a disproportionately large affect on the environment that minor environmental infractions shrink by comparison. This book identifies the 4 Most Significant Consumer-Related Environmental Problems, the 7 Most Damaging Spending Categories, 11 Priority Actions, and 7 Rules for Responsible Consumption. Learn what you can do to have a truly significant impact on our world from the people who are at the forefront of scientific research.
Download or read book Cash for Your Trash written by Carl A. Zimring and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Long before our growing levels of waste became an environmental concern, recycling was a part of everyday life for many Americans for a variety of reasons. From rural peddlers ... to urban children ..., individuals have been finding ways to reuse discarded materials for hundreds of years. ... Integrating findings from archival, industrial, and demographic records, and moving beyond the environmental developments that have shaped modern recycling enterprises, Zimring offers a unique cultural and economic portrait of the private businesses that made large-scale recycling possible."--Page 4 of cover
Download or read book The Simplicity Connection written by C. B. Davis and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2009-08-14 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The market for self-improvement books may never be boring, but it is often littered with false hope. A better sex life? Lose weight in ten days by eating only Twinkies? Make more money than you’ve ever dreamed from the comfort of your couch? These are promises left unfulfilled because they do not address the core of the problems they try to solve: our society is destructively complex and dependent on consumerism. Fixing the problems of tomorrow (and yesterday) starts today. We have the ability to revitalize our health by saving our environment—cleaning the air and water, stabilizing the climate, refocusing our consumption with a plan for achieving sustainability. Finding out how to maintain our lives and relate to others are the first steps in making ourselves self-sufficient and peaceful. But we still have a very long way to go. What if, on the basis of one belief, we could start to rectify the larger problems of society? Solve global warming? Childhood obesity? Famine, drought, and poverty? What if one book could teach us how to gain more time, more energy, more money, more happiness, and better health? Sounds too good to be true? Simplicity is that cure-all, and The Simplicity Connection will teach us how to get back on a path of physical, emotional and mental well-being. This practical and comprehensive guide will help us rethink how we treat our bodies, our spirits, and our environment. It will show how even our smallest actions can lead to a simpler, better life. www.simplicityconnection.com Follow The Simplicity Connection on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SimpConnection Follow The Simplicity Connection on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SimpConnection
Download or read book Facing America s Trash written by United States. Congress. Office of Technology Assessment and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Mundane Governance written by Steve Woolgar and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book aims to explore how governance and accountability are mediated through material relations involving ordinary everyday objects and technologies. It draws on empirical materials in three main areas: waste management and recycling; the regulation and control of traffic; and security and passenger movement in airports.
Download or read book Waste written by Eiko Maruko Siniawer and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-15 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No detailed description available for "Waste".
Download or read book Outsmart Waste written by Tom Szaky and published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers. This book was released on 2014-01-14 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ever-expanding landfills, ocean gyres filled with floating plastic mush, endangered wildlife. Our garbage has become a massive and exponentially growing problem in modern society. Eco-entrepreneur Tom Szaky explores why this crisis exists and explains how can we solve it by eliminating the very idea of garbage. To outsmart waste, he says, we first have to understand it, then change how we create it, and finally rethink what we do with it. By mimicking nature and focusing on the value inherent in our by-products, we can transform the waste we can't avoid creating from useless trash to a useful resource. Szaky demonstrates that there is value in every kind of garbage, from used chewing gum to juice pouches to cigarette butts. After reading this mind-expanding book, you will never think about garbage the same way again.
Download or read book Polymers and Ecological Problems written by J. Guillet and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The growing public concern about environmental matters has prompted widespread discussion in the media. Unfortunately much of this public debate has been characterized more by ardour than by information, and often the wildest speculations are pro mulgated with the same appearance of veracity as hard scientific facts. It is an important, and often neglected, duty of scientific societies to make sure that the public is properly informed regard ing the technical aspects of matters of public interest, and to assure that policy decisions of governmental and other agencies are made with due regard to the scientific and technical facts, so far as they are ascertainable. For a variety of reasons, not all of which are related to the magnitude of the problems, a great deal of public attention has been focused on the environmental aspect s of the chemical industry. Because of this the American Chemical Society has wisely decided to sponsor a number of symposia at national scientific meetings where these issues can be raised and information supplied regarding their technical and scientific aspects.
Download or read book The Physical Separation and Recovery of Metals from Waste Volume One written by Alan Veasey and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 1993-09-10 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with the physical processes used for the separation of secondary metals from waste sources. The introduction briefly considers the history of the secondary metals industries, defines the terms used in materials recycling and discusses the potential for resource recovery and improved processing. A comprehensive survey is given of the unit operations employed for metals recovery and reclamation, and this is followed by detailed descriptions of processes used to treat fragmentized metal wastes and granulated metal wastes. The final chapter reviews the processing of urban wastes for metals recovery, and gives details of modern plants and practices. The volume aims to bring together technical information on metals recovery from a wide range of sources in order to give a unified review of an important engineering and environmental topic.
Download or read book Recycling Reconsidered written by Samantha Macbride and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2011-12-09 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the success and popularity of recycling has diverted attention from the steep environmental costs of manufacturing the goods we consume and discard. Recycling is widely celebrated as an environmental success story. The accomplishments of the recycling movement can be seen in municipal practice, a thriving private recycling industry, and widespread public support and participation. In the United States, more people recycle than vote. But, as Samantha MacBride points out in this book, the goals of recycling—saving the earth (and trees), conserving resources, and greening the economy—are still far from being realized. The vast majority of solid wastes are still burned or buried. MacBride argues that, since the emergence of the recycling movement in 1970, manufacturers of products that end up in waste have successfully prevented the implementation of more onerous, yet far more effective, forms of sustainable waste policy. Recycling as we know it today generates the illusion of progress while allowing industry to maintain the status quo and place responsibility on consumers and local government. MacBride offers a series of case studies in recycling that pose provocative questions about whether the current ways we deal with waste are really the best ways to bring about real sustainability and environmental justice. She does not aim to debunk or discourage recycling but to help us think beyond recycling as it is today.
Download or read book Gone Tomorrow written by Heather Rogers and published by New Press, The. This book was released on 2013-03-05 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A galvanizing exposé” of America’s trash problem from plastic in the ocean to “wasteful packaging, bogus recycling, and flawed landfills and incinerators” (Booklist, starred review). Eat a take-out meal, buy a pair of shoes, or read a newspaper, and you’re soon faced with a bewildering amount of garbage. The United States is the planet’s number-one producer of trash. Each American throws out 4.5 pounds daily. But garbage is also a global problem. Today, the Pacific Ocean contains six times more plastic waste than zooplankton. How did we end up with this much rubbish, and where does it all go? Journalist and filmmaker Heather Rogers answers these questions by taking readers on a grisly and fascinating tour through the underworld of garbage. Gone Tomorrow excavates the history of rubbish handling from the nineteenth century to the present, pinpointing the roots of today’s waste-addicted society. With a “lively authorial voice,” Rogers draws connections between modern industrial production, consumer culture, and our throwaway lifestyle (New York Press). She also investigates the politics of recycling and the export of trash to poor countries, while offering a potent argument for change. “A clear-thinking and peppery writer, Rogers presents a galvanizing exposé of how we became the planet’s trash monsters. . . . [Gone Tomorrow] details everything that is wrong with today’s wasteful packaging, bogus recycling, and flawed landfills and incinerators. . . . Rogers exhibits black-belt precision.” —Booklist, starred review
