The Book Depository No. More. Plastic. by Martin Dorey
576 ratings
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Price: £7.99
Brand: The Book Depository
Description: No. More. Plastic. : Paperback : Ebury Publishing : 9781785039874 : : 11 Jun 2018 : Discover what you can do to save the planet from plastic. Martin Dorey, anti-plastics expert, has been working to save our beaches from plastic for the past 10 years. The Book Depository No. More. Plastic. by Martin Dorey - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: The Book Depository
Product ID: 9781785039874
MPN: 9781785039874
GTIN: 9781785039874
Author: Hande Z
Rating: 5
Review: This is a similar book to Will McCalum’s ‘How to Give Up Plastic’ published in the same year by Penguin Life. Will is a member of Greenpeace. Martin is the founder of #2minutesolution and described by Chris Packham in the foreword as ‘a nice bloke’ and a ‘doer’. All that are beside the point. The point being made by both Will and Martin is an important one. Plastic is choking up the ocean. It may not be now, but it may be sooner than we think before the ocean becomes an ocean of plastics. Yes, both books are small and can be read in an afternoon. They are of the same size and have a tiffany blue cover. They look like twins and published by the Penguin group of publishers. The statistics given by both writers are alarming. They provide different aspects of the same story so it may be a worthy cause to buy both books and lend one to a friend. Will tells us how many bottles are jettisoned into the ocean every day; Martin explains why we see more bottle caps than water – the plastic bottles sink to the bottom of the sea and will eventually be broken up into microplastic, the danger of that is lucidly explained by Will. If we have the conscience, we must have the will to do something about the environmental disaster we have all helped create. No more.
Author: D. M. Purkiss
Rating: 3
Review: This is obviously a very well-intentioned and enthusiastic book, but I was disappointed because the content was so sketchy. It would have been nice to have recommended brands of fruits are cotton buds and tampons so that the authors suggestions could be taken forward. Quite a lot of it is common sense – obviously, endless plastic bags, disposable bottles and cups, and black plastic trays for fruit are just a waste of everything, including money, but the problem is that like for like alternatives are not always available; for example, the fruit sold loose in supermarkets is almost always of worse quality than the fruit sold in plastic. Similarly, all of us understand that a reusable flannel can be substituted for wipes, providing you are willing to wash the flannel often; they get revoltingly stinky very quickly. In the same way, I doubt that many of us would feel comfortable carting around a used knife and fork all day, and not everyone has appropriate washing facilities at work. We all know that disposable nappies are not ideal in any respect, but washable nappies use up huge amounts of water and energy because they require frequent cleaning. Moreover, virtually all the suggested substitutes are either more expensive or massively more time-consuming than the original problem plastic. And what of the environmental impact of the alternatives suggested? If everybody stops using wipes and starts wiping themselves or their babies with cotton-wool, does that mean that cotton crops will start springing up in areas that are now rainforest? This is exactly what happened when trans-fats were demonised as the cause of heart disease, and were replaced by palm oil. Given the low level the book is aimed at, I was surprised that there was less about why it might be important to take your rubbish home, rather than leaving it in the park where you picnicked, or tossing it out of your car as you drive away. It would also be useful if the author campaigned for recycling bins in public parks and beauty spots, including beaches, to discourage people from simply hurling their bottles away from them. This points to the general problem with the book which is that it would really be better for governments to take action to ban disposable wipes, plastic water bottles, plastic soft drink bottles, and plastic carrier bags, along with other single-use plastics, while local councils could provide better recycling bins at sites where rubbish accumulates now. This is not a problem that individuals can completely solve. Like most of us, I'm more than willing to modify my practices, but I wonder if there might be more helpful books than this one in advising me how to do so.