Paper or Plastic?

Searching for Solutions to an Overpackaged World

Daniel Imhoff

170 pages, parution le 31/05/2005

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Résumé

The deceptively simple supermarket choice echoed in the title of this timely book looms large in a Western consumer society that is clearly on a collision course with the planet's life-support systems. Do we clearcut forests, process pulp, and bleach it with chlorine to make paper bags? Or do we make a pact with demon hydrocarbon, refining ancient sunlight into handy plastics? About half the total volume of America's municipal solid waste is packaging--at least 300 pounds per person each year--and the "upstream" costs in energy and resources used to make packaging are even more alarming.

In this fascinating look at the world of packaging, writer Daniel Imhoff and photographer/designer Roberto Carra give consumers, product designers, and policymakers the information we need to take steps toward a more sustainable future. They delve into the histories and life cycles of packaging materials and look at the countless ways that packaged goods shape our culture. Using case studies, they explore the positive trends that are changing packaging, including producer responsibility and "take-back" laws being enacted in Europe; the eco-design movement; plant-based plastics; labeling to disclose the ecological and social impacts of products; and producing and consuming locally and in bulk versus the wasteful global exchange of single-serving containers. Carra's remarkable color photographs illustrate both the important functions of packaging and its many unintended consequences around the globe.

Despite recent advances, the packaging problem keeps growing, Imhoff warns. Real solutions must incorporate new (or rediscovered) ways of producing, distributing, packaging, consuming, reusing, andreprocessing products and materials. As consumers, there's much we can do, and Paper or Plastic? offers a checklist for consumer action, along with resources for information on products, programs, and policy options. It's one book that is truly worth the recycled paper it's printed on.

Sommaire

The package is the product
Wading upstream in the waste stream
In packages we trust
Does packaging waste equal more food?
Intrinsic environmental consequences of trade-related transport
Acceptable levels of waste
Curbside confessionals
Tracking a package's footsteps
In search of water from a deeper well
A world of "less bad" solutions?
Can packaging have a meaningful life?
Major obstacles preventing packaging reform
Key leverage points and trends toward packaging reform
Extended producer responsibility and product take-back laws
The expanding face of extended producer responsibility
Source reduction : packing more with less
Natural systems design
Packaging tips from the porcupine fish (and other wild packagers)
Wood reduction : packaging and the fate of the forests
Third-party certification organizations and EcoLabels
The rise of the mini-mill
The carbohydrate economy : on the trail of bioplastics
The global revival of local economies
Bad wraps
Packaging that works
What you can do
Wraps at a glance
Beyond-the-box packaging solutions
A. Assessment of packaging practices
B. Tips on green packaging 149

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	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Sierra Club Books
Auteur(s)	Daniel Imhoff
Parution	31/05/2005
Nb. de pages	170
Format	23 x 20,5
Couverture	Broché
Poids	350g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9781578051175
ISBN13	978-1-57805-117-5