Consumed: LONGLISTED FOR THE FT BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR How Big Brands Got Us Hooked on Plastic
Produktdetaljer
Om bidragsyterne
Saabira Chaudhuri has covered consumer goods companies for the Wall Street Journal for the past decade, reporting on plastics, waste and sustainability, among other topics, from the US, India, UK and elsewhere in Europe. She has an MA in business and economic reporting from New York University and a BA in sociology from Mount Holyoke College. Saabira lives in London with her husband, two children and dog. She grew up in Bangalore, India, where she first developed her fascination with what we throw away.'If you're a CEO in an industrial complex like Big Plastic, you'd better hope that Saabira Chaudhuri doesn't turn her interest your way. As she does in <i>Consumed</i>, she'll pry loose your playbook and lay bare the strategy that's common to so many companies that sell us goods with huge hidden costs: the denial, the delay, the pretence of giving in, with some secretly funded science to confuse us all (her chapter on throw-away diapers is a gem). A must read for anyone who buys anything plastic'
- Michael Moss, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Salt, Sugar, Fat,
'Fantastic reporting! This book will entertain you even as it raises your blood pressure - and hopefully it will move you to join the movement to rein in this kind of reckless nonsense!'
- Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature,
<i>'Consumed</i> tells the terrifying tale of how we wrapped our world in plastic. Knowing plastic resides inside us and most other living creatures is deeply disturbing but I am grateful to learn how we got here. <i>Consumed</i> explains how slick advertising played a crucial role in the plastics revolution, convincing us to ditch refillable glass bottles, discard washable linen diapers and insist on food wrapped in film. We also fell for the deceitfully reassuring lie of recycling - a tale <i>Consumed</i> tells in dramatic detail. The only real antidote to this plastic plague is a truthful tale told well enough to supercharge our desire to do something about it. Consumed achieves this feat admirably.'
- Simon Clark, author of The Key Man,
'<i>Consumed</i> examines the rise and rise of plastic consumption - our addiction to the material as users, and the role big business plays as pusher. Chaudhuri's book is convincing and expertly written, driven by impressively deep research and a sharp understanding of how plastic consumption illuminates many of the bigger issues that underpin consumer behaviour, from widespread greed to a convenience-above-all mentality that often trumps safety and environmental awareness. An important and engaging read'
- Adam Alter, bestselling author of Irresistible and Anatomy of a Breakthrough,
<i>'Consumed</i> is a fascinating and timely book that sheds light on the dirty truth about our use of plastics. Chaudhuri is a deft storyteller, a thorough researcher and a tenacious reporter. Here, she proves to be a compelling and convincing guide to a critical corner of the global environment. Her book should be read by policymakers, corporate titans and anyone with an interest in the future health of our planet'
- Duncan Mavin, author of Pyramid of Lies and Meltdown,
*FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2025*
'This book will change the way you see the world and could change the world itself', CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ULTRA-PROCESSED PEOPLE
'Chaudhuri does a mighty job of showing how plastic came to take over our lives, and why we have repeatedly failed to curb it' , FINANCIAL TIMES
'A must read for anyone who buys anything plastic', MICHAEL MOSS, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF SALT, SUGAR, FAT
'Eye-popping, engaging and rigorous', MIKE BERNERS-LEE, AUTHOR OF A CLIMATE OF TRUTH
'As alarming as it is entertaining.... brilliant', HUGH FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL, HOST OF WAR ON PLASTIC WITH ANITA AND HUGH
Over the past seventy years, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and other consumer goods makers have harnessed single-use plastics to turbocharge their profits. They've poured billions of dollars into convincing us we need disposable diapers, cups, bags, bottles, shampoo in sachets and plastic-packaged ultra-processed foods.
We were never clamouring for any of these items, but this shift towards disposability has fundamentally transformed our daily habits. Think of toddlers kept in disposable diapers for far longer than their parents wore cloth, our obsession with bottled water and our insatiable appetite for convenient snacks and coffee. While at first we shaped plastics, somewhere along the way, plastics took over and began shaping us.
Like any addiction, our plastic habit has consequences. It is damaging our climate and biodiversity and we are only just starting to understand its effect on our own health.
How did plastic take over our lives? And why have we been unable to rein it in? In investigating how we got here, Consumed arms us to make better decisions about where we go next. It is only by understanding this history that we will stop accepting the same failed solutions and demand better from the brands that got us hooked on plastic in the first place.
'An important and engaging read', ADAM ALTER, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF IRRESISTIBLE AND ANATOMY OF A BREAKTHROUGH
'A must read for anyone who buys anything plastic' Michael Moss, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Salt, Sugar, Fat
'An important and engaging read ... driven by impressively deep research and a sharp understanding of how plastic consumption illuminates many of the bigger issues that underpin consumer behaviour' Adam Alter, bestselling author of Irresistible and Anatomy of a Breakthrough
'The only real antidote to this plastic plague is a truthful tale told well enough to supercharge our desire to do something about it. Consumed achieves this feat admirably' Simon Clark, author of The Key Man
'Fantastic reporting! This book will entertain you even as it raises your blood pressure - and hopefully it will move you to join the movement to rein in this kind of reckless nonsense!' Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature