
The Secret Life of Stuff
A Manual for a New Material World
Julie Hill(Author)
Vintage (Publisher)
Published on 6. January 2011
Book
Paperback/Softback
368 pages
978-0-09-954658-0 (ISBN)
Description
Wouldn't you like:
- Products that don't damage the environment?
- A better way of life without agonising about your 'footprint'?
- To really know your stuff?
Climate change? Biofuels? Nuclear power? Landfills? Recycling? Renewable energy? Environmental issues can feel overwhelming. But, in fact, it is simple; it all comes down to one thing - stuff.
Our use of the Earth's resources - whether a crisp packet or a cargo ship, a T-shirt or a wind turbine - has an inescapable impact on our future. In The Secret Life of Stuff, Julie Hill uncovers the origins and the true cost of what we use. Her inventory of over-consumption may shock but it is the first step towards overcoming waste. The misuse of stuff is not your fault, it's a product of history. But it is only by understanding what has gone wrong, that everyone - politicians, business people and us as consumers - can create a new and better material world.
- Products that don't damage the environment?
- A better way of life without agonising about your 'footprint'?
- To really know your stuff?
Climate change? Biofuels? Nuclear power? Landfills? Recycling? Renewable energy? Environmental issues can feel overwhelming. But, in fact, it is simple; it all comes down to one thing - stuff.
Our use of the Earth's resources - whether a crisp packet or a cargo ship, a T-shirt or a wind turbine - has an inescapable impact on our future. In The Secret Life of Stuff, Julie Hill uncovers the origins and the true cost of what we use. Her inventory of over-consumption may shock but it is the first step towards overcoming waste. The misuse of stuff is not your fault, it's a product of history. But it is only by understanding what has gone wrong, that everyone - politicians, business people and us as consumers - can create a new and better material world.
Reviews / Votes
Hill is refreshingly, defiantly optimistic... The more you read this book, the more you come to realise that the future she describes isn't the pie-in-the-sky environmentalist wish-fulfilment fantasy it first appears - it's within our grasp -- Roger Cox * Scotsman * Worldly but erudite... Enlightening * Independent * Instead of piling doom and gloom onto the shoulders of readers, Julie Hill outlines a positive plan for a world spring clean...the result makes fascinating reading * Daily Echo *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Vintage Publishing
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
440 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-09-954658-0 (9780099546580)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2011
1st Edition
Vintage Digital
€12.99
Available for download
Person
Julie Hill has 25 years environmental experience, including working with governments, businesses, the environmental think-tank Green Alliance, the Environmental Agency and the award-winning Eden Project. She counts her experiences as parent, consumer and citizen to be just as relevant to The Secret Life of Stuff as those generated by being a life-long environmentalist.