The reviewed book is called How to Give Up Plastics: A Guide to Changing World, One Plastic Bottle at a Time. The author of the book is Will McCallum, the head of Oceans at Greenspace in the United Kingdom (McCallum, 2018). He has been at the forefront of fighting the use of plastic, and recently, he spent a month in the Antarctica region to confirm if the plastics used in other parts of the world were reaching there. Surprisingly, he discovered that the plastic materials thrown away from different parts of the world were reaching one of the earth’s remotest regions. The book was published on October 30, 2018, by Penguin Life Publishers. I like this book because it consists of much information on single-use plastics utilization that I initially lacked. Before reading the book, I was deficient of the details and the negative effects the plastics we use have on the environment and animals.
The book How to Give up Plastics is about the plastic use problem and its catastrophic dimensions. The first four chapters contain astonishing facts and statistics about plastic use. Basically, the book focuses on single-use plastics, which are only used once and thrown away. These include such items as plastic bags, straws, coffee cups, and plastic packaging, among others (McCallum, 2018). Consequently, the book has success stories of individuals and groups that have stood out and made a difference in their communities regarding the use of plastics. Moreover, the book recommends ways in which people can start living a plastic-free life. Among the methods, the book suggests using social media to mount a strong campaign on eradicating single-use plastics.
There are some interesting aspects that I have learned from the book. First, I learned that plastics bags and coffee cups that we use take longer to decompose and, therefore, they are harmful to the environment. On the single-use plastics, the authors say that human beings have developed a throw away culture around the use of single-use plastics, which is not healthy for the oceans and societies (McCallum, 2018). I have also learned that it is essential not to blame others in our quest to eradicate the use of plastics, but rather people should recognize the individual responsibility. We should take action from a personal level to ensure that we eliminate single-use plastics regardless of their centrality in our lives. Furthermore, convincing others to join us in the fight to make the world plastic-free is the best opportunity to eliminate pollution. We can do this through both traditional media and social media. Since social media is the new normal in the sector of mass media, we can use it to mount a successful online campaign on eradication of single-use plastics.
However, the writer failed to recognize various countries that have prohibited the use of plastic bags. Some of these countries that have banned plastic bags use include Kenya, Malaysia, and Taiwan (McCallum, 2018). Recognition of these countries would have convinced the readers to note the efforts that different countries have adopted to eliminate plastic use. Moreover, the awareness of the measures these countries have taken would encourage readers to request their legislators to formulate policies that would help curb the high rate of single-use plastic use in their countries. The insufficient awareness underscores the role this book failed to play in dispersing the much-needed knowledge and insight concerning single-use plastics and the dangers they pose to adversity.
Reference
McCallum, W. (2018). How to give up plastic: A conscious guide to changing the world, one plastic bottle at a time. Penguin Life Publishers.