Waste and Recycling

This is a straightforward introduction to the problem of rubbish and how we can safely dispose of it without harming the environment. The author explores the three Rs of rubbish – reduce, reuse and recycle – with plentiful photographs and diagrams. Sadly the practical suggestions are less than inspiring (‘make a poster to persuade pupils in your school to re-use and recycle paper’) and there is little concrete information on what is happening on our own doorstep. Instead factboxes provide statistics about the US rather than the UK or Europe, and most of the website links are US based. Even the photo to illustrate the problems of domestic waste shows raccoons rummaging in the trash can. None of this would matter if there were an ounce of passion to enthuse the reader or even to encourage questioning on what we can do to lobby supermarkets and food producers to reduce packaging. A pity too that the publisher missed the opportunity to update information in this new paperback edition.