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Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is the glass-half-empty follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. While Guns, Germs, and Steel explained the geographic and environmental reasons why some human populations have flourished, Collapse uses the same factors to examine why ancient societies, including the Anasazi of the American Southwest and the Viking colonies of Greenland, as well as modern ones such as Rwanda, have fallen apart. Not every collapse has an environmental origin, but an eco-meltdown is often the main catalyst, he argues, particularly when combined with society's response to (or disregard for) the coming disaster. Still, right from the outset of Collapse, the author makes clear that this is not a mere environmentalist's diatribe. He begins by setting the book's main question in the small communities of present-day Montana as they face a decline in living standards and a depletion of natural resources. Once-vital mines now leak toxins into the soil, while prion diseases infect some deer and elk and older hydroelectric dams have become decrepit. On all these issues, and particularly with the hot-button topic of logging and wildfires, Diamond writes with equanimity.
Because he's addressing such significant issues within a vast span of time, Diamond can occasionally speak too briefly and assume too much, and at times his shorthand remarks may cause careful readers to raise an eyebrow. But in general, Diamond provides fine and well-reasoned historical examples, making the case that many times, economic and environmental concerns are one and the same. With Collapse, Diamond hopes to jog our collective memory to keep us from falling for false analogies or forgetting prior experiences, and thereby save us from potential devastations to come. While it might seem a stretch to use medieval Greenland and the Maya to convince a skeptic about the seriousness of global warming, it's exactly this type of cross-referencing that makes Collapse so compelling. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Book Description
In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond brilliantly examined the circumstances that allowed Western civilizations to dominate much of the world. Now he probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to fall into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from Easter Island and the Maya to Viking Greenland and modern Montana, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of environmental catastrophe—one whose warning signs can be seen in our modern world and that we ignore at our peril. Blending the most recent scientific advances into a narrative that is impossible to put down, Collapse exposes the deepest mysteries of the past even as it offers hope for the future.
“Diamond's most influential gift may be his ability to write about geopolitical and environmental systems in ways that don't just educate and provoke, but entertain.” —The Seattle Times
“Extremely persuasive . . . replete with fascinating stories, a treasure trove of historical anecdotes [and] haunting statistics.” —The Boston Globe
“Extraordinary in erudition and originality, compelling in [its] ability to relate the digitized pandemonium of the present to the hushed agrarian sunrises of the far past.” —The New York Times Book Review
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant. Engaging. Informative.........2007-10-01
Amazing book. He manages to hold my interest while providing a wealth of facts.
Mostly on the mark.......2007-09-28
Diamond hits pretty much on the mark all the way across the board. Weakness: for the most part ignores or minimizes the effect of marketing/advertising/propaganda on human consumption patterns. Strengths: one of the few books on this broad subject that actually deals with over-population; indeed, had he concentrated more on this one most important issue, I would have given "Collapse" 5 stars.
I would strongly recommend this book for anyone concerned with the future of the human race.
Collapse review.......2007-09-24
Another excellent book. I realized when I bought this book that I own and have enjoyed all of Jared Diamond's books. His topics and hypostheses are fascinating and compelling.
Collapse by Jared Diamond.......2007-09-19
Jared Diamond, renowned author of the Pulitzer-winning Gun, Germs, and Steel, returns with another piece of mind-blowing work that will simply astonish any reader. In his last book, Diamond took us on a journey into the history of humanity, with cogent and logical answers for why our ancestors did the things they did, tying it in with geological and biological processes; how location matters very much for why certain of our ancestors did much better than others. Guns, Germs, and Steel serves as an excellent introduction to Collapse, though it is not required.
In his new book, Diamond tackles the overarching reason for why certain cities and civilizations decline and collapse, while others get through the hard times enough to get by and sometimes even thrive. What are amazing are the many case studies Diamond uses, ranging from early history with the Anasazi, Vikings, and civilization of Eastern Island; to the modern day cultures of Rwanda, Australia and the area of Montana where Diamond now lives for part of the year. In his introduction, Diamond clearly lays out his plan with the book - much like a scientist about to run a number of experiments - with a specific list of factors that determine a society's success or downfall, including: geographical location, amount of natural resources, amount of possible food, amount of trees. Some societies suffer from a lacking in just one of these factors and are still unable to survive, while others suffer from a lacking in a number of them. What's fascinating with these thoroughly researched and explained case studies is how two societies in close proximity to each other will have different outcomes: one may collapse, or barely survive, while the other thrives for many hundreds of years.
Diamond's reason for writing this book, he explains in the beginning and elaborates at the end, is to help the people of the present day realize the predicament we are in. With global warming, astronomically high carbon dioxide levels, overpopulation, and dwindling supply of nonrenewable energy resources; Diamond seeks to enlighten us in first world countries (those most likely to be reading this book) of collapses and failures of past civilizations - some in the distant past, some in the not too distant, some still ongoing today - as an educational lesson so that we may learn where others failed and why, perhaps then we can ensure our continued survival. With the factors mentioned above, like overpopulation and dwindling energy supplies, we are right on course with some other past civilizations that collapsed. The question is whether the governments of the world will realize this and react soon enough to halt us on this doomed path, and start us on a new and healthier one. Like many things in our lives: only time will tell.
For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com
Life on Our (Planetary) Island: Easter Island or Japan?.......2007-09-18
"Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" examined the environmental reasons for the collapses of various societies including the Mayan civilization in Mexico, the Vikings in Greenland, and the Polynesian societies on Easter Island, Pitcairn and Henderson Island, among other various societies. Not limited to examining failure, Diamond also provided explanations of the ways that societies recognized and avoided environmental collapse. Examples of these successes include Japan at the time of Tokugawa and the New Guinea highlands.
Diamond arranged his examination of collapsing societies around the five stress points that cause societies to fail: Environmental damage, climate change, hostile neighbors, loss of friendly trade partners, and a society's responses to its environmental problems. Any one, though usually two or more can cause a society to collapse. Obviously, the more problems a society has the more difficult it is to avoid collapse. (The presence of hostile neighbors, climate change, environmental damage and a poor response to environmental problems is usually a more dire situation than just the loss of a trading partner - though not always.)
For all the time spent citing examples from history, "Collapse" isn't just a collections of facts about the past. Diamond also provides up-to-date evidence of the problems we face now. He exposes our own society as no more permanent than that of the Maya.
Diamond finds evidence of the coming collapse of our society in Montana, which he examines extensively. Lack of water to grow food is one of the great causes of societal collapse and Diamond shows the problems the western U.S. is having supporting its population. He also points to the many other small 'first signs' of coming problems such as the rich insulating themselves in gated communities.
For all the dire examples, Diamond doesn't damn western society. He doesn't declare that we've already driven off the cliff of un-sustainability but he does show us that we're quickly racing towards it. His examinations of what worked in the past, what didn't work in the past, and what is going on right now, show that the most important 'point' out of the five is the response a society has to the new environmental pressures. If we can formulate the right response, there's no reason why our society shouldn't be among the list of civilizations that side-stepped collapse.
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Paleocommunities: A Case Study from the Silurian and Lower Devonian (World and Regional Geology)
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521363985 |
Book Description
Fossil communities, chiefly benthic, from Silurian and Devonian rocks are looked at in detail within this book. Discussion of their environmental and evolutionary significance provides a unique ecological view of this intensively studied part of the stratigraphic column. It is hoped that this case-study will illustrate a new trend for palaeontological research and synthesis that could be applied to other time intervals. Forty contributions from all parts of the world discuss and exemplify the general principles of this massive compilation and provide descriptions of many of the shelly mid-Silurian and early Devonian benthic communities in encyclopaedic form. Biostratigraphers and palaeontologists, as well as evolutionists and ecologists, concerned with fossil communities and their evolution will find this volume of interest. This book forms the final report of IGCP Project 53.
Book Description
Environmental issues can be complex. You need an environmental ethics textbook that you can actually understand. WATERSHEDS 4: TEN CASES IN ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS provides ten fascinating case studies of real-life environmental conflicts and explains the principles involved in an easy-to-understand, impartial way.
Customer Reviews:
Compelling cases, interesting reading.......2007-09-16
This book discusses various ethical situations regarding environmental issues, which could be rather dry material. However, the author writes in a more down-to-earth style, which makes it more enjoyable. The topics are certainly thought-provoking, and made for many interesting discussions at the dinner table.
****************************.......2007-09-02
This book is nice if you're looking for nice little vignettes on varied environmental subjects. But it is overtly biased politically, asides and analogies that have a left leaning are used throughout the text unnecessarily. Otherwise the information is pretty broad and it is not a bad little book.
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Municipal Wastewater Treatment
Andrew Stoddard ,
Jon B. Harcum ,
Jonathan T. Simpson ,
James R. Pagenkopf , and
Robert K. Bastian
Manufacturer: Wiley
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ASIN: 0471243604 |
Book Description
A thorough analysis of public policy and the Clean Water Act's effect on water quality in the U.S.
Using water quality data and historical records from the past 60 years, this book presents the measured impact of the 1972 Clean Water Act on domestic waterways-ecologically, politically, and economically. Municipal Wastewater Treatment supports the hypothesis that the Act's regulation of wastewater treatment processes at publicly owned treatment works (POTW) and industrial facilities has achieved significant success. The authors' case is presented in:
- Background information on the history of water pollution control and water quality management
- Chapters addressing long-term trends in biochemical oxygen demand loadings from municipal wastewater plants and the "worst-case" dissolved oxygen levels in waterways downstream of point sources before and after the Clean Water Act
- Nine case study assessments of long-term trends of pollutant loading water quality and environmental resources associated with POTW discharges
Using long-term trends in dissolved oxygen as the key indicator of water quality improvements, this book provides a detailed retrospective analysis of the effectiveness of the water pollution control policies and regulations of the 1972 Clean Water Act. The successes of the Act that have been achieved over the past 30 years are placed in the historical context of the "Great Sanitary Awakening" of the 19th century and changes in public policies for water supply and water pollution control that have evolved during the 20th century to protect public health and the intrinsic value of aquatic resources. Case study sites include the Connecticut River, Hudson-Raritan Estuary, Delaware Estuary, Potomac Estuary, Upper Chattahoochee River, Ohio River, Upper Mississippi River, and Willamette River.
Complete with end-of-chapter summaries and conclusions, Municipal Wastewater Treatment: Evaluating Improvements in National Water Quality is an essential book for engineers, scientists, regulators, and consultants involved in water quality management and wastewater treatment, as well as students of environmental engineering, environmental science, and public policy.
Book Description
Offers a modern and different perspective.
* Includes updated content to reflect latest research findings.
* Each chapter ending has references to related material on the web.
Customer Reviews:
Comprehensive and thorough.......2002-08-24
Comprehensive and thorough, clear and understanable even for youth. Ilustrations contribute a lot to the overall picture.
Pretty good overview of environmental science.......2001-08-28
I took a class which used this textbook at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which was co-taught by one of the authors, Ed Keller. This is an introductory book that provides a decent overview of the problems we are currently facing in regard to the environment, what we can do to solve those problems, and other opportunities that our environment can give us.
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Conflict Over the World's Resources: Background, Trends, Case Studies, and Considerations for the Future (Contributions in Political Science)
Robert Mandel
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
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ASIN: 0313261296 |
Book Description
As resource scarcity threatens and the economic gap between affluent and poorer nations continues to widen, conflict over natural resources is assuming critical dimensions. Mandel analyzes the causes and consequences of present tensions and offers case studies of five recent or ongoing resource conflicts illustrating major areas of confrontation and identifying the range of policy issues we need to confront. Synthesizing his findings, Mandel demonstrates the need for rethinking current policy and suggests alternative approaches that may help to reduce international conflict. The author first describes worldwide scarcity trends and trends in resource conflict and their relation to international conflict as a whole. He looks at the dynamics of resource competition, assessing the impact of scarcity, declining economic development, environmental awareness, resource interdependence, and other factors. The first case study, centering on the protection of an endangered species, examines the whaling confrontation that began in 1972. The oil crisis and the continuing conflict over fossil fuels is considered next. Other case studies focus on political coercion in the conflict over food; the scarcity of strategic minerals and competition to control them; and the conflict arising from nuclear pollution in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster. The concluding chapter, dealing with policy implications, explains why prevailing attitudes toward resources are counterproductive, and suggests ways of working more effectively to minimize international resource conflict. Combining solid empirical analysis with a thorough understanding of environmental theory and comparative resource issues, Mandel's study will be important reading for students and specialists concerned with resource policy, development, international relations, and conflict resolution.
Book Description
Transit-oriented development (TOD) seeks to maximize access to mass transit and nonmotorized transportation with centrally located rail or bus stations surrounded by relatively high-density commercial and residential development. New Urbanists and smart growth proponents have embraced the concept and interest in TOD is growing, both in the United States and around the world.
New Transit Town brings together leading experts in planning, transportation, and sustainable design -- including Scott Bernstein, Peter Calthorpe, Jim Daisa, Sharon Feigon, Ellen Greenberg, David Hoyt, Dennis Leach, and Shelley Poticha -- to examine the first generation of TOD projects and derive lessons for the next generation. It offers topic chapters that provide detailed discussion of key issues along with case studies that present an in-depth look at specific projects. Topics examined include:
- the history of projects and the appeal of this form of development
- a taxonomy of TOD projects appropriate for different contexts and scales
- the planning, policy and regulatory framework of "successful" projects
- obstacles to financing and strategies for overcoming those obstacles
- issues surrounding traffic and parking
- the roles of all the actors involved and the resources available to them
- performance measures that can be used to evaluate outcomes
Case Studies include Arlington, Virginia (Roslyn-Ballston corridor); Dallas (Mockingbird Station and Addison Circle); historic transit-oriented neighborhoods in Chicago; Atlanta (Lindbergh Center and BellSouth); San Jose (Ohlone-Chynoweth); and San Diego (Barrio Logan).
New Transit Town explores the key challenges to transit-oriented development, examines the lessons learned from the first generation of projects, and uses a systematic examination and analysis of a broad spectrum of projects to set standards for the next generation. It is a vital new source of information for anyone intersted in urban and regional planning and development, including planners, developers, community groups, transit agency staff, and finance professionals.
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- From IJSM Vol 15, No 4 December 2001
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Underground Mining Methods: Engineering Fundamentals and International Case Studies
Manufacturer: Society for Mining Metallurgy & Exploration
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Mining Economics and Strategy
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Techniques in Underground Mining: Selections from Underground Mining Methods Handbook
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Introductory Mining Engineering
ASIN: 0873351932 |
Book Description
Underground Mining Methods presents the latest principles and techniques in use today. Reflecting the international and diverse nature of the industry, a series of mining case studies is presented covering the commodity range from iron ore to diamonds extracted by operations located in all corners of the world. Industry experts have contributed 77 chapters. This book is certain to become a standard for every practicing mining engineer and student alike. Sections include: General Mine Design Considerations, Room-and-Pillar Mining of Hard Rock/Soft Rock, Longwall Mining of Hard Rock, Shrinkage Stoping, Sublevel Stoping, Cut-and-Fill Mining, Sublevel Caving, Panel Caving, Foundations for Design, and Underground Mining Looks to the Future.
Customer Reviews:
From IJSM Vol 15, No 4 December 2001.......2002-10-17
Beginning with the Phoenician traders more than 3000 years ago, mining today is an international business. This book has tried to reflect this international character by presenting a snapshot of the world of mining through a series of case studies. The publication is devoted strictly to underground mining and can be used for the training of new mining engineers as well as a reference book for those already in the field. The case studies in this book cover the commodity range from iron ore to diamonds extracted by operations located in all corners of the world. The book consists of 11 sections making up 77 chapters. The sections are entitled as follows: General Mine Design Considerations; Room-and-Pillar Mining of Hard Rock Room-and-Pillar Mining of Soft Rock; Longwall Mining of Hard Rock; Shrinkage Stopping; Sublevel Stoping Cut-and-Fill Mining; Sublevel Caving; Panel Caving; Foundations for Design; and Underground Mining Looks to the Future. Black and white visuals are presented throughout the book and a comprehensive topic index is provided
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Connections in Environmental Science: A Case Study Approach
J. Richard Mayer
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math
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Case Studies in Environmental Science
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Annual Editions: Environment 05/06 (Annual Editions Environment)
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Laboratory Manual for Environmental Science
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Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future (9th Edition)
ASIN: 0072297263 |
Book Description
This brief, black and white text takes a totally unique approach to the study of Environmental Science. Each major concept is introduced using a case study that relates the topic to real life events that students can relate to and understand. In addition, each case study is further explained with regard to Regional Perspectives from around the world.
Customer Reviews:
Very Informative.......2001-12-15
Though I am not finished with this book, I would give it a very good review. This book is a textbook for my Biological Science class and I find that is is very helpful in breaking down some of the simpler points on Environmental Science. We we are finished reading the book, I will give a more thorough review!!!
Book Description
It is from the discards of former civilizations that archaeologists have reconstructed most of what we know about the past, and it is through their examination of today's garbage that Rathje and Murphy inform us of our present. Rubbish! is their witty and erudite investigation into all aspects of the phenomenon of garbage. They show what the study of garbage tells us about a population's demographics and buying habits. Along the way, they dispel the common myths about our "garbage crisis"--about fast-food packaging and disposable diapers, about biodegradable garbage and the acceleration of the average family's garbage output. They also suggest methods for dealing with garbage.
Customer Reviews:
What Our Rubbish Says About Us.......2006-08-19
This is an overview of the University of Arizona's continuing trash sorting project started in 1972 to document the lifestyle habits of the American public through observing what we eat, what we use in household goods, etc., and then throw out. Socio, political and economic behaviors become evident while recording the fascinating finds in daily trash digging, probing, and quantifying.
This project also included studies at the now closed Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island in New York City where holes were bored all the way to the bottom of the fill and where the studies then took on a more ominous dimension of environmental impact discoveries such as: that the breakdown of trash, even over years, is a myth. The research showed that there is little biodegradation occurring due to compaction and lack of bacterial decomposition, so the researchers found completely intact and recognizable items from food to readable newsprint- even at the bottom of the heap where it was at least 50 years old- same type discoveries of intact trash heaps discovered in ancient Rome, Greece, etc.
Most distressing of the discoveries in the landfill was the discovery of the huge quantity of "leachate"- a toxic liquid stew, that is leaking at the rate of a million gallons a day into New York Harbor.
The book concludes with recommendations on alternatives to landfill as a means to dispose of trash plus recycling and lifestyle changes.
For another enlightening read on all things trash, there is Elizabeth Royte's "Garbage Land"- a personal story of discovery of what her family's trash footprint is and where everything including recyclables ends up- a real eye-opener and an entertaining read!
There is a link between owning a cat and reading "The National Enquirer"!.......2005-06-27
"Rubbish" is a highly academic book about "The Garbage Project" at the University of Arizona's Anthropology Department. The main idea behind "The Garbage Project" is to gain information about society by analyzing garbage patterns in various locations.
Despite being a book about garbage, the contents of the book are quite diverse. The book is divided into 4 parts. The first section, An Introduction to the Garbage Project, gives the background of "The Garbage Project", why it started, what they do, and what they hope to accomplish. This section also discusses how anthropologists use garbage to learn about ancient civilizations. The second section, The Landfill Excavations, discuss the basic theories of landfills, how the team takes samples from landfills, and discusses why biodegradation does not work in landfills. The third section, Interlude: Diapers and Demographics, I found to be highly entertaining. This section has a fascinating chapter on estimating the population of a neighborhood (as well as sex and age) based on the garbage collected from this neighborhood (a study done to initially help the Census Bureau). This section is also filled with useless information such as "There is a link between owning a cat and reading "The National Enquirer"". There is also a detailed discussion about disposable diapers in landfills. The final section, Garbage and the Future, was the most educational by far. This part discusses the serious shortcomings of citywide recycling programs and side effects people never hear about. There are also discussions on alternate garbage disposal methods, such as high tech incinerators used to generate electricity, as well as several other attempts at using technology to turn garbage into a useful product. The section and the book end with a chapter on reducing and addressing garbage disposal.
I think this book will not be for everyone. The book reads like a Master's Thesis at times, rather long and seems to ramble. However, some parts of the book are exceptional (such as the chapter on recycling or "Closing the Loop") and are really an eye opener.
I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in Environmental Sciences. Also, if you can manage to wade through pages of various scientific theories and facts, I'd highly recommend picking this book up! While a little slow reading at times, it is quite informative and I think a real eye opener.
One of the best books Iýve read this year.......2004-02-07
This is a fascinating overview of the world of garbology, the science of garbage. The authors begin by describing how the Garbage Project came to be, when students in a 1971 anthropology class at the University of Arizona hit upon studying garbage as a way to study people and culture. The Garbage Project has grown to become one of the leading scientific explorations into garbage, where it comes from, where it goes, and what it does when it gets there. Published results from the Garbage Project have covered such varied topics as changing patterns of meat consumption, using garbage volume to estimate population, and the relative quantities of diapers, newspapers, and plastics in landfills.
One of the most valuable contributions of the book is that it provides historical data to put garbage in perspective. Contrary to many people's beliefs, the authors argue that garbage and where to put it is not a new problem at all. They point out that one of the characteristics that make us human is that we create garbage, and we always have, back to the very first time a humanoid discovered how to create tools by chipping flint. To those who worry about our non-biodegradable trash, the authors remind us that the pottery shards of ancient archeological sites are nothing more than the indestructible refuse of yesteryear. And yet others worry about burying our trash in landfills which doesn't allow normal biodegradation to occur, but the authors point out that this also isn't new, describing an archeological dig of a putrid 2,000-year-old buried dump in Italy. Of course, the main message that the authors express is not that garbage is benign, but that the problem isn't new, and that garbage issues have been a concern since the dawn of civilization. They also point out that sanitation issues are even getting better. They give an overview of the history of garbage treatment in the US, from burying it under the kitchen floor, to building dumps, incinerators, and sanitary landfills. They point out that cities in the past weren't as clean as they are now. Cities used to produce mountains of coal dust and horse manure, and garbage would often simply sit on the corner, waiting to be dispersed by scavengers or pigs. They point out that "...ever since governments began facing up to their responsibilities, the story of the garbage problem in the industrialized world has been one of steady amelioration, of bad giving way to less bad and eventually to not quite so bad."
Scientists as well as ordinary people have very inaccurate ideas of what's in landfills today and how landfills work. Until the Garbage Project actually studied landfills, many landfill planners believed that trash would biodegrade somehow once it went into the landfill, and that the trash would eventually settle, producing large quantities of methane gas. By drilling into landfills and studying their contents, Garbage Project scientists have found that very little biodegradation actually occurs in landfills at all- -basically, only food scraps and perhaps a few lawn clippings break down. Since food scraps make up only a small portion of landfill volume, then settling and methane gas production is much less than expected.
If you think garbage is a problem, then an obvious way to address the problem is to reduce garbage volume. So what items take up the most space in our landfills? Many environmentalists would guess disposable diapers and plastics. But by meticulously analyzing landfill samples, Garbage Project scientists have determined that diapers comprise less than 2% of landfill volume and all plastics less than 20%. Paper, on the other hand, especially newspaper, doesn't compress well, doesn't biodegrade in landfill any better than plastic, and takes up 40% of landfill volume on average. Think of that next time you need to answer "Paper or plastic?" at the supermarket. By studying what's in our landfills and what actually happens to the stuff once it's been down there for a few decades, we can get better ideas about what the real garbage problems are and how to address them.
The authors suggest that the best solutions to garbage problems may be to ensure that there are economic incentives to garbage reduction. They point out that the weight and volume of packaging plastics has decreased dramatically since the 1960s- - plastic beverage bottles now weigh much less than they used to- -because it's cheaper for companies to pack and ship their items in lighter weight packaging. One of the persistent problems for garbage reduction is cities that charge a flat rate for garbage removal, rather than a per-can rate. In localities where residents pay a nominal fee for each bag of garbage to be disposed of, recycling participation rates are much higher, and garbage volume is less. The worst thing a city can do is to adopt uniform large containers for mechanized garbage collection, since garbage production magically increases to fill the space allotted to it.
After reading this book, I have a new-found respect for the Styrofoam cup and disposable diapers. I better understand why newspapers are so hard to get rid of, even through recycling. But there is one fishy result that leaves me a little suspicious- -at one point the authors argue that processed food creates less garbage than fresh food. The basis for this claim is a cross-cultural study they did in Mexico City and Arizona. They found that Mexican households produce a lot more garbage than American households, and that the larger volume is mostly attributable to the fact that Americans use processed foods where Mexicans use fresh foods. But wait, didn't the authors find in a different study that it was precisely food wastes that biodegrade in landfills, so in the end, isn't it better to produce more food scrap waste than packaging waste? This odd loose end leaves a bit of doubt in my mind that the book is entirely unbiased. But overall, I found the book incredibly informative and quite well written.
Sheds light on Human Behavior.......2003-06-16
As someone from a a profession where problem solving is a core ability, I was amazed from chapter to chapter how the members of the Garbage Project went about their endeavors to successful results. They truly show how something so ubiquitous(garbage) can contain so much information about our lives and our behaviors.
The men and women involved in this research project open the bag on the realities of this human behavior to shed light on how we act as consumers and as members of society in general. Our political tendencies are also exposed in investigating how groups endeavor to address the issue of solid waste disposal, often to unbelievable results, totally contrary to the desired end goal.
I wholeheartedly agree with some other reviewers in that this should be required reading for anyone interested in environmental issues, from the simplest aluminum can collector to the most active environmentalists.
This is billed as an archaeology book, but I would call it more accurately an environmental/psycological/science read, never very technical, often entertaining and always eye-opening.
Informative, Fascinating, Easy to Read.......2003-03-30
Rubbish should be required reading for anybody who things he/she cares about environmentalal issues. Until reading the book, I would have never guessed all the facts--yes, hard, cold facts--documented in its pages. Garbage disposal is the ultimate out-of-sight-out-of-mind issue in our hurried consumer culture. So much of our opinions on garbage comes from an uninformed media (i.e. the ridiculously high estimates of landfill space taken up by disposal diapers). People act, lobby and debate based on knowledge that, as the book shows, is usually false.
As wasteful as we are, the authors present interesting comparisons of American families and Mexican families. The results will surprise you, to say the least. Also well presented are rational comments on the always present issue of recycling.
In all, this is a fascinating book. Like all great book of this nature, it is scientific but an easy read. Highly recommended!
Books:
- Creative and Mental Growth (8th Edition)
- Eating for Life: Your Guide to Great Health, Fat Loss and Increased Energy! (Body for Life)
- Eating for Life: Your Guide to Great Health, Fat Loss and Increased Energy! (Body for Life)
- Encyclopedia of Food Microbiology (3-Volume Set with Online Version)
- Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable Future (9th Edition)
- Essential Biology with Physiology, Study Guide
- Essential Cell Biology, Second Edition
- Evolution and Ecology of the Organism
- Extinction: How Life on Earth Nearly Ended 250 Million Years Ago
- Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results
Books Index
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