{"product_id":"what-we-leave-behind-1","title":"What We Leave Behind","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Everything looked perfect. Sand - unique Baltic sand, the best in the world - and the calm sea. But wait. Something was amiss. Something was wrong\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt starts with a day at the beach. A single white sock that somehow spoils everything. It''s enough to send writer and ornithologist Stanislaw Lubienski on a quest to understand what we throw away, where it goes and whether it will be our legacy. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy analysing items he unearths on his trips into nature - a plastic bottle, a tube of Russian penis-enlargement cream, a cigarette butt, an empty aerosol can - tracing their origins and explaining the harm they can do, he shows how consumer society has developed out of control, to the point of environmental catastrophe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe also looks with a birdwatcher''s eye at how various animals have come to adapt to and even rely on our rubbish, and interrogates the cultural significance of waste and the origins of our throw-away lifestyles. Finally, he adds a personal touch by examining his own \"environmental neurosis\" and by going out with refuse crews to watch them work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhile Lubienski never hectors his readers, nor shames them, his clear-eyed, persuasive and humble polemic reminds us what we, as individuals, can and cannot do to address an apocalyptic issue while there''s still something worth saving.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTranslated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MediaPlace","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57313157087614,"sku":"NW9781529418866","price":10.77,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1379\/1261\/files\/9781529418866.jpg?v=1778515896","url":"https:\/\/mediaplace.com\/products\/what-we-leave-behind-1","provider":"MediaPlace","version":"1.0","type":"link"}