Synopses & Reviews
The deceptively simple supermarket choice echoed in the title symbolizes the dilemma of a society 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, and reprocessing 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.
Synopsis
A look at the environmental and cultural impacts of packaging and at the positive trends that may hold solutions for our overpackaged world.
Synopsis
"Pull the right thread and the whole world unravels its secrets. Dan Imhoff has found a terrific one in the packaging of industrial civilization, everpresent yet invisible, and, in his capable hands, endlessly fascinating."--Michael Pollan
Synopsis
The supermarket conundrum Paper or plastic?” sums up a Western consumer society that is on a collision course with the planets 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 of Americas municipal solid waste is packagingat least 300 pounds per person each yearand its upstream” costs in energy and resources are even more alarming.
In this fascinating look at the world of packaging, author Daniel Imhoff delves into the life cycles of packaging materials, from wood products to glass, metals, and plastics, and looks at the countless ways that packaged goods shape our culture. Using case studies, the book explores positive trends such as producer responsibility and take back” laws, the eco-design movement, plant-based plastic, labeling to disclose the ecological and social impacts of products, and integrated regional economiesthat is, producing and consuming locally and in bulk.
As consumers, theres much we can do to address the still-growing problem of packaging. Paper or Plastic offers a checklist for action, along with resources for detailed information.
Table of Contents
Foreword: The Right Stuff: Reenvisioning Waste and Our Future, by Randy Hayes
1 THE PACKAGING LANDSCAPE
The Package Is the Product
Wading Upstream in the Waste Stream
In Packages We Trust
Does Packaging Waste Equal Food?
Intrinsic Environmental Consequences of Trade-Related Transport, by Jerry Mander and Simon Retallack
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?
2 THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS
Major Obstacles Preventing Packaging Reform
Key Leverage Points and Trends Toward Packaging Reform
Extended Producer Responsibility and Take-Back Laws
Source Reduction: Packing More with Less
Natural Systems Design: Thinking Like a Coconut
Packaging Tips from the Porcupine Fish, by Janine Benyus and Dayna Baumeister
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
3 A FUTURE BEYOND THE BOX
What You Can Do
Wraps at a Glance
Beyond-the-Box Packaging Solutions
Appendix A: Packaging Practices Checklist
Appendix B: Tips on Green Packaging
Appendix C: Resources
Notes
Selected Bibliography
About the Author and Contributors
Photo Credits
Index