Afbeelding van de auteur.

Susan Freinkel

Auteur van Plastic: A Toxic Love Story

3 Werken 386 Leden 16 Besprekingen

Over de Auteur

Susan Freinkel is a freelance science journalist whose feature writing has appeared in Discover, Health, and Smithsonian, among many other national magazines.
Fotografie: Susan Freinkel

Werken van Susan Freinkel

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Algemene kennis

Geboortedatum
1957
Geslacht
female
Nationaliteit
USA
Woonplaatsen
San Francisco, California, USA
Beroepen
journalist

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Besprekingen

Fantastic book; I would give it a 5-star rating, except I save that for works that absolutely blow me away. I learned so much about plastic, as well as recent economic, political and cultural history mostly in the U.S. but not entirely. The book is incredibly well researched and Freinkel's writing is clear and engaging. I found myself rethinking so much of what I felt sure about previously, and in the end feel more informed and better able to make good personal and political/social/voting booth decisions about plastic. You can't ask for too much more from any book!… (meer)
 
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lschiff | 11 andere besprekingen | Sep 24, 2023 |
I listened to this book as an audio book. I do not remember where I picked up the recommendation for this one.
This book left less of a lasting impression than I hoped for. Although I do not really think a book is going to change a relationship with plastic that has been developed by society over several decades. Especially when I am busy and feel financially strapped. The author did a good job of describing the history of plastic. She started by taking us through her consciousness raising activity of attempting to go a period of time without using plastic. I am fully aware of how difficult this task is. She was not able to make it very long. I think it is a good exercise for all of us to recognize how deeply plastic has been integrated into our lives. I have replaced many disposable plastic items in my life with reusable ones. I could not live entirely without plastic but there are things I could do better about.
This then raises the next questions she answers. Where did plastic come from and how did it become so ubiquitous in our global lives? She also takes a tour through how plastic has evolved over time. This brought back childhood memories of touring the local plastics recycling plant with my school class. Getting to take home a plastic bucket at the end of the day was always the highlight of the tour. Based on this background I appreciate her explanation of the challenges associated with disposal and recycling plastic. She follows the interplay of material and design fir a few specific items. This push and pull between desired design and limitations of the material was a look into manufacturing I have not seen before.
What I feel like either was not covered enough or did not stick with me was what I can do to help with the problems. While I feel more aware of plastic, it's good and bad, in my life, I don't know that I can do to limit the bad. Awareness is good but action is better.
… (meer)
 
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jenniebooknerd | 11 andere besprekingen | Dec 31, 2021 |
I was recommended this book by my mother, an ardent gardener and lover of nature. From the start I was curious about it, and over the course of her reading it she shared many little tidbits here and there that only further piqued my interest. I was lucky enough to grab it from the library shortly after she finished the book, and together we've now embarked on our own minor mission to discover an American Chestnut in the wild. Only time will tell if we'll be successful. This is the sort of passion that this book has the ability to evoke, though. I firmly believe it will soon create a new generation infected with a brand of chestnuttiness.

The story of the American Chestnut is not a particularly singular story. Other trees and species have followed a similar fate, and therein lies the strength of the story itself. What the chestnut has that other plants and species do not, is an intrinsic weaving of its life with our own, and an all too quickly forgotten fate. This is a fascinating story, a very human story, and one that will ultimately affect how restoration and conservation goes in the future. Will the American Chestnut be brought back? I have faith it will, and that the passenger pigeon will as well. The question, however, is in what form will these things be brought back? It made me incredibly happy that [a: Susan Freinkel|657503|Susan Freinkel|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1310704434p2/657503.jpg] discussed that issue in detail. It's one that will soon (hopefully) be a more common discussion.

This book is fascinating and really heightened my interest in trees and the complexities of them. Forestry, by its nature, is complicated and I'm glad that the author really discussed how vital every part of the ecosystem is to restoration. I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone - it has within it the chance to start some important discussions that more people should be participating in.

I, for one, look forward to the full return of this species.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
Lepophagus | 3 andere besprekingen | Jun 14, 2018 |
This book takes us through the history of plastic, the different types of plastics and how they are made; and it focuses on certain common plastic items, such as: Frisbee, comb, chair, lighters, shopping bags, bottles and medical supplies.

I really liked this. It was very interesting. There were some sections of chemistry that I maybe didn’t quite “get” (or even if I did while I was reading it, I can’t recall it now), but overall, this was very readable. Other topics in this book include “bioplastics”, the effect on wildlife and the oceans, plastic (i.e. credit) cards, etc. Personally, I’ve been trying for a while now to buy less plastic, but it is pretty much impossible to cut it out; it’s so entrenched.… (meer)
 
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LibraryCin | 11 andere besprekingen | Jan 5, 2018 |

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Statistieken

Werken
3
Leden
386
Populariteit
#62,660
Waardering
4.0
Besprekingen
16
ISBNs
17
Talen
2

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