Hooked on plastic: A timely probe into the brands and greenwashing

Business Standard

3 days ago

Consumed: How Big Brands Got Us Hooked on Plastics
Harper Collins India
368 pages ₹599
The annual observance of World Environment Day on June 5 goes back to 1973. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme, it is a major occasion for governments and corporations to renew their commitment to environmental causes, take meaningful action and bring new people into the ambit of outreach. It is hosted by a different country each year. In 2025, the Republic of Korea will have that honour. This year's theme is #BeatPlasticPollution.
In this context, journalist Saabira Chaudhuri's book Consumed: How Big Brands Got Us Hooked on Plastic assumes tremendous significance, more so because we are just two months away from a meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Geneva, where a global treaty will be negotiated to end plastic pollution. An international, legally binding instrument of this kind seems like an ambitious undertaking but it is the need of the hour.
The author grew up in Bengaluru, obtained an MA in business and economic reporting from New York University, and now lives in London. The book focuses mostly on the United States and India while discussing the history of how plastic became an indispensable part of human life. This historical lens that she adopts is important so that environmental advocacy is grounded in solid facts and not based only on ideology and emotion. We need to have a clear grasp of why plastics became so popular across geographies. They did not emerge out of thin air.
Ms Chaudhuri writes, for instance, 'The Second World War had seen the largest influx of women into the American workforce on record. While many stopped working initially after men returned from the frontlines, a war-born desire for convenient weeknight meals, easy-to-clean surfaces and wrinkle-free clothes did not disappear.' The author's intention here is not to pin the blame for plastic pollution on women. Since the burden of housework was shouldered largely by women, the promise of more time for rest and leisure was understandably quite attractive. Plastic offered them a way out of monotony and drudgery.
In the Indian scenario, Manmohan Singh's decision as finance minister to slash excise duties on shampoo in 1993 put it within the reach of people who could not afford it earlier. Ms Chaudhuri writes, 'Taxes dropped from 120.75 per cent to 70 per cent, making sachets way more profitable.' She also points out that sachets were also appealing to women 'who typically were in charge of buying household essentials' because they 'offered built-in portion control — precluding wayward children or careless husbands from using too much, the way they might from a bottle'. These well-researched culturally specific insights from the author help us look at plastic not as a monster but as a material that has both pros and cons.
This book also helps us make sense of how and why businesses engage in greenwashing, which is a widespread practice of making false, deceptive and unsubstantiated claims of having a positive impact on the environment. Greenwashing is often a tactic used to appear environmentally friendly so as to win over new customers or retain existing ones.
The author examines in detail how in the United States recycling became a 'get-out-of-jail-free card in a situation otherwise riddled with reputational risk'. Instead of any real impact in terms of reducing pollution, it became a marketing campaign to manage public perception. By emphasising this, the author cautions us against being taken for a ride by businesses that are looking to make a quick buck out of our sensitivities that favour being eco-friendly.
Ms Chaudhuri's training as a journalist ensures that she stays cool-headed instead of peddling doomsday predictions. She reminds us that different kinds of plastic melt at different temperatures. 'Even today, mixed plastics recycling is plagued by collection and sorting problems; the resulting park benches and picnic tables have never commanded a high-enough price to justify collecting and cleaning big volumes of often highly contaminated plastics,' she adds. These are realities that people need to know as they grapple with systems that seem outside their control, and also make small changes in their own lives.
The book ends with a useful section titled FAQs, where the author addresses basic but important questions that many do not have reliable answers to. Some of the questions are: Why are plastics recycling rates so slow? What's greener: Cloth diapers or disposables? How can I protect myself against greenwashing? Isn't paper better than plastic? Are bio-based plastics a good alternative to fossil-fuel-based ones? The author offers explanations that are accessible but not simplistic. This book is not the last word on the subject but it is a good start.