Publisher Comments:
The deceptively simple supermarket choice echoed in the title symbolizes the dilemma of a society
on a collision course with the planet's life-support systems. Do we clearcut forests, process pulp,
and bleach K with chlorine to make paper bags? Or do We make a pact with demon hydrocarbon,
refining ancient sunlight into handy plastics? About half the total volume of America's municipal
solid waste is packaging (at least 300 pounds per person each year) and the upstream costs in
energy and resources used to make packaging are even more alarming
In this fascinating look at the world of packaging, writer Daniel Imhoff and photographer/designer
Roberto Carra give consumers, product designers, and policymakers the information we need to
take steps toward a more sustainable future. They delve into the histories and life cycles of
packaging materials and look at the countless ways that packaged goods shape our culture. Using
case studies, they explore the positive trends that are changing packaging, including producer
responsibility and take-back laws being enacted in Europe; the eco-design movement; plant-based
plastics; labeling to disclose the ecological and social impacts of products; and producing and
consuming locally and in bulk versus the wasteful global exchange of single-serving containers.
Carra's remarkable color photographs illustrate both the important functions of packaging and its
many unintended consequences around the globe. Despite recent advances, the packaging problem
keeps growing, Imhoff warns. Real solutions must incorporate new (or rediscovered) ways of
producing, distributing, packaging, consuming, reusing, and reprocessing products and materials.
As consumers, there's much we can do, and Paper or Plastic offers a checklist for consumer action,
along with resources for information on products, programs, and policy options. It's one book that is
truly worth the recycled paper it's printed on.