Plastic

January 17, 2011
"What is plastic, really? Where does it come from? How did my life become so permeated by synthetics without my even trying?" Surrounded by plastic and depressed by the political, environmental, and medical consequences of our dependence on it, Freinkel (The American Chestnut) chronicles our history with plastic, "from enraptured embrace to deep disenchantment," through eight household items including the comb, credit card, and soda bottle (celluloid, one of the first synthetics, transformed the comb from a luxury item to an affordable commodity and was once heralded for relieving the pressure on elephants and tortoises for their ivory and shells). She takes readers to factories in China, where women toil 60-hour weeks for $175 a month to make Frisbees; to preemie wards, where the lifesaving vinyl tubes that deliver food and oxygen to premature babies may cause altered thyroid function, allergies, and liver problems later in life. Freinkel's smart, well-written analysis of this love-hate relationship is likely to make plastic lovers take pause, plastic haters reluctantly realize its value, and all of us understand the importance of individual action, political will, and technological innovation in weaning us off our addiction to synthetics.

April 1, 2011

An informative treatise on our complicated and dependent relationship with plastic.

Early in the book, journalist Freinkel (American Chestnut: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree, 2007) tracks her use of every plasticized object she touches, from toilet seat to light switch to fleece sweatshirt, wondering, "How did my life become so permeated by synthetics without my even trying?" The author examines plastic via a study of eight everyday objects: comb, chair, Frisbee, IV bag, disposable lighter, grocery bag, soda bottle and credit card. Each chapter details the innovations and innovators that allowed us to progress technologically as plastic replaced the ivory comb, the wooden chair and even human body parts. Though Freinkel does her best to create a lively exploration, some sections of the narrative get bogged down. The evolution of the plastic chair, for example, doesn't exactly make for compelling history. However, the author provides an engaging chronicle of the alacrity with which the plastic industry developed—today, "more than one million Americans work directly in plastics." Freinkel's argument that, due to our obsession with plastic, we "are facing frightening intimations of ecological collapse," gives the book an urgency that will be appreciated by scientists, industry leaders and environmentalists alike—especially in a country where the average individual consumes more than 300 pounds of plastic each year.

General readers may find the narrative overly scientific at times, but Freinkel presents a balanced, well-researched investigation into a controversial and versatile human creation.

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