Featured Books & eBooks - Consumer Goods
Empire of Things: How We Became a World of Consumers, from the Fifteenth Century to the Twenty-First by Call Number: HC79.C6 T74ISBN: 9780062456342Publication Date: 2017What we consume has become the central feature of modern life. Our economies live or die by spending, we increasingly define ourselves by our possessions, and this ever-richer lifestyle has had an extraordinary impact on our planet. How have we come to live with so much stuff, and how has this changed the course of history?
Understanding Planned Obsolescence: (Un)sustainability Through Production, Consumption and Waste Generation by Call Number: HF5415.15 .P67ISBN: 9780749478056Publication Date: 2017Planned obsolescence is a strategy used to make products obsolete, leading to their premature replacement. The result is the over-exploitation of natural resources, increased waste and detrimental social impacts. Understanding Planned Obsolescence looks at the causes, costs and impacts of planned obsolescence and considers legal and economic frameworks to mitigate its effects. It also sheds light on new patterns of production and consumption that suggest more sustainable development models.
The Story of Stuff: The Impact of Overconsumption on the Planet, Our Communities, & Our Health by Call Number: GN406 .L46ISBN: 9781439125663Publication Date: 2010Uncovering and communicating a critically important idea--that there is an intentional system behind our patterns of consumption and disposal--Annie Leonard transforms how we think about our lives and our relationship to the planet. From sneaking into factories and dumps around the world to visiting textile workers in Haiti and children mining coltan for cell phones in the Congo, Leonard highlights each step of the materials economy and its actual effect on the earth and the people who live near sites like these.
Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism by Call Number: HD9349.S634 C6323ISBN: 9780393241129Publication Date: 2014How did Coca-Cola build a global empire by selling a low-price concoction of mostly sugar, water, and caffeine? The easy answer is advertising, but the real formula to Coke's success was its strategy from the start to offload costs and risks onto suppliers, franchisees, the public and the government. Bartow J. Elmore explores how Citizen Coke became a titan in a world of abundance, and how in a world of scarcity, it’s now become a strain on our resources—and all who depend on them.
Quicklist
Barbero, Silvia. Ecodesign. (2009) - TS171.4 .B353
Fuad Luke, Alastair. Eco Design: A Sourcebook. (2002) - TS171.4 .F83
Strasser, Susan. Waste & Want: A Social History of Trash. (1999) - HD4482.S77
Sustainable Fashion: What's Next? A Conversation About Issues, Practices, & Possibilities by Call Number: TT497 .S97ISBN: 9781628925319Publication Date: 2015As issues surrounding sustainability in the fashion industry continue to evolve, the conversation in this collection of essays from leading fashion academics and practitioners has been updated with current concepts and industry practices. This Second Edition examines the challenges that designers, product developers, and consumers confront as they create, wear, and recycle clothing and fashion.
Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-Hand Clothes by Call Number: HD9940.A2 B76ISBN: 9781783600670Publication Date: 2015Have you ever stopped and wondered where your jeans came from? Who made them and where? Ever wondered where they end up after you donate them for recycling? Following a pair of jeans, Clothing Poverty takes the reader on a vivid around-the-world tour to reveal how clothes are manufactured, retailed, and traded across continents—and how these commodity chains perpetuate poverty.
Wear No Evil: How to Change the World with Your Wardrobe by Call Number: TT507 .E224ISBN: 9780762451272Publication Date: 2014Wear No Evil offers a timely handbook for navigating fashion and ethics. It is a style guide with sustainability built in. Featuring an Integrity Index (a simplified way of identifying the ethics behind any piece of fashion) and rating system, you'll learn to shop anywhere while building your personal style and supporting your values.
Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion by Call Number: HD9940.A2 C54ISBN: 9781591844617Publication Date: 2012Fast fashion and disposable clothing have become our new norms. We buy ten-dollar shoes from Target that disintegrate within a month and make weekly pilgrimages to Forever 21 and H&M. Elizabeth Cline argues that this rapid cycle of consumption isn't just erasing our sense of style and causing massive harm to the environment and human rights—but it's also bad for our souls. Overdressed shows us a way back to feeling good about what we wear.
Quicklist
Fletcher, Kate. Sustainable Fashion & Textiles Design Journeys. (2008) - eBook
Rivoli, Pietra. Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade. (2005) - HD9969.S6 R58
Schoenberger, Karl. Levi's Children: Coming to Terms with Human Rights in the Global Marketplace. (2000) - HD9940.U6 L457
Ross, Andrew (Ed.). No Sweat: Fashion, Free Trade, and the Rights of Garment Workers. (1997) - HD8039.C6 N6
Reassembling Rubbish: Worlding Electronic Waste by Call Number: TD799.85 .L47ISBN: 9780262535335Publication Date: 2018In Reassembling Rubbish, Josh Lepawsky analyzes the global trade and traffic in discarded electronics and counters the assumption that e-waste is simply a post-consumer problem. Lepawsky demonstrates how waste occurs at all stages of electronic materials existence and highlights the complex ecologies of reuse and repair.
Electronic Waste: Recycling Techniques by Call Number: TD799.85 .E432ISBN: 9783319377612Publication Date: 2016This book presents an overview of electronic waste sources and details processing techniques for the recovery of metals, polymers and ceramics from e-waste. The text serves as a technical reference for practicing scientists and engineers, as well as for students.
Recycling Electronics: A Common Sense Solution for Enhancing Government Efficiency & Protecting Our Environment by Call Number: KF26 .H63ISBN: 9781981244096Publication Date: 2017Witnesses from government, industry and non-profit groups weigh in on plans for the programmatic recycling of electronic waste. This text transcribes a special hearing on February 27, 2014 before the Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, Second Session.
Brilliant: The Evolution of Artificial Light by Call Number: TH7900 .B68ISBN: 9780547520346Publication Date: 2011From the stone lamps of the Pleistocene to the LEDs embedded in fabrics of the future, Jane Brox plumbs the class implications of light—who had it, who didn’t—through the many centuries when crude lamps and tallow candles constricted waking hours. She portrays the hell-bent pursuit of whale oil—perhaps the first time human desire for light thrust us toward an environmental tipping point—and she follows with an informative and hair-raising portrait of our current grid system.
Quicklist
Johnstone, Bob. Brilliant: Shuji Nakamura and the Revolution in Lighting Technology. (2007) - TK7871.89.L53J65
Cosmeceuticals and Cosmetic Ingredients by Call Number: RL801 .B24ISBN: 9780071793988Publication Date: 2014Understand what ingredients work for various skin types and why with the help of this unique text. The author addresses myths and misconceptions about specific ingredients and carefully details what each can and cannot do. It provides an unbiased brand-neutral approach along with detailed information and references to published evidence.
The Complete Soapmaker: Tips, Techniques & Recipes for Luxurious Handmade Soaps by Call Number: TP991 .C66ISBN: 9780806948690Publication Date: 1997This guide provides detailed instructions and recipes for basic lye soaps made with animal or vegetable fats, and for hand-milled and specialty soaps using almond meal, chamomile, glycerin, and milk. The history and origins of soap and soap making, fragrance, herbs and natural dyes are covered as well.
