The Ethics of Waste: How We Relate to RubbishWe spend a good amount of time in our lives managing waste: washing ourselves, taking out the trash, sorting recyclables, going to the toilet, deleting e-mail, picking out old clothes to give to charity, filling the compost bin, multitasking to save time, clipping coupons to save money. But waste is much more than what we want to get rid of or avoid. Far beyond terms like rubbish, trash, or litter, the idea of waste can provoke a minefield of emotions and moral anxieties. Gay Hawkins explores the ethical significance of waste in everyday life-from the broadest conceptions of waste and loss to how the environmental movement has affected the ways we think about garbage, the ways we deal with it, and the ways in which we view others' reactions to waste. Do we feel virtuous for reusing a plastic bag? Do we disdain those who throw away aluminum cans? At what point does personal waste become public responsibility? How does this "public conscience" affect policy? Placing these ideas into historical, social, and cultural perspective, this thoughtful book seeks ways to change ecologically destructive practices without recourse to guilt, moralism, or despair. |
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Contents
An Overflowing Bin | 1 |
Plastic Bags | 21 |
Shit | 45 |
A Dumped Car | 71 |
Empty Bottles | 93 |
Worms | 119 |
137 | |
145 | |
About the Author | |
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Common terms and phrases
actions active argues bags bathroom become body calculations calls campaigns challenged chapter commodity complex concern connected conscience constitution consumer consumption cultural demand describes desire destruction discourse disgust disposability distinct domestic dumped economy effects emerge environment environmental ethical ethos example experience explore feel focus force forms framed function fundamental garbage generosity gift give habits household human idea identity imagine impacts implicated industry interest involve kind linked living logic loss material matter means moral nature norms objects ocean organic performance plastic pleasure political possible potatoes practices Press problem produced putting question recycling relations resentment responses reveal rise rubbish scene sense separation shifting shit shows social sort space stories sustainable techniques theory things tion toilet transformations Turn University various waste waste management worms
References to this book
Mobilizing Hospitality: The Ethics of Social Relations in a Mobile World Jennie Germann Molz,Sarah Gibson No preview available - 2007 |