Lavinia Poruschi

Energising sustainable cities

(57). These are explored in more detail in Chapter 3 Rubbish Industries where the organisation of waste, from scavengers to industrial processes, is used to provide a social context for waste behaviours and attitudes and to explore the practices, institutions, innovations and relations that have emerged to govern waste and its transformation into value. This chapter also considers the generative role of waste in industrial organisation, technological innovation and economic growth. The second part of the book is predominantly analytical in its focus and considers what people do with and how they relate the everyday waste they encounter. Chapter 4 Rubbish Households is empirically grounded in household waste practices in England and Wales between 1919 and 2003. Through this analysis O’Brien challenges the notion of the recent emergence of the throwaway society. O’Brien plumbs the depths of our contemporary relationships with waste in Chapter 5 Rubbish Relationships and engages with the world of dumpster-divers and trash-pickers alongside the more conservative, but equally resourceful, practices of second-hand exchangers and the reuse and repurposing of ‘wastes’. Whether motivated by memories or the commodification of wastes O’Brien explores the value inherent in waste which is exposed in these practices and challenges the idea that we are grossly more wasteful than previous generations. The final part of the book is largely theoretical and across two chapters, Rubbish Idealisms and Rubbish Materialisms, engages with and critiques dominant sociological theories of waste ranging from the oft-cited work of anthropologist Mary Douglas to the work of scatological sociologist David Inglis to Karl Marx’ contribution to understanding ideas of surplus and the ‘utilisation of the excretions of production’ (153). I must confess that I have a thing for waste. I suspect it is because waste is not something that one can be ambivalent about. It is visceral in its presence; one feels waste and responds to it. As a consequence, there is something delightfully provocative and richly evocative about the way those who write about waste write about waste. As a result one cannot help but draw comparisons with Dominique Laporte’s (2002) richly eccentric and politically challenging History of Shit or Gay Hawkins’ (2005) splendidly sensate prose in the Ethics of Waste (which I have reviewed elsewhere, see Grant-Smith 2009). Like Hawkins, O’Brien suspends judgements of waste and advocates a move beyond mere environmentalism or moralism in favour of developing deeper understandings of waste’s complexities and the role that it plays in social, economic and cultural processes. However, unlike Hawkins who focuses at the microscale of the individual practice of an ethics of waste, O’Brien chooses to focus his efforts on the more macro-level interconnections between society and waste. This is an interesting and well-researched book and the recently released paperback version represents good value. Resolutely grounded in sociology and part of the Routledge Advances in Sociology series, this book will be of interest to a wide audience who reject the ‘flush and forget’ mentality that dominates our daily waste disposal and who embrace engagement with a wide range of wastes at a practical, discursive, intellectual and sociological level. Indeed, there is a great deal of interest and relevance for the planning academic within O’Brien’s work and many will have a more than passing familiarity with the issues raised. O’Brien concludes that ‘waste has always been, and remains, a critically important dimensions of, especially urban, social experience’ (171); one that we must engage without vilifying or denying it so that we may engage in productive public discussion about the consequences and value of waste. I, for one, welcome any efforts to restore the centrality of waste to public discussions and move waste away from the realms of the unspeakable.

Renewable energy for residential heating and cooling – policy handbook

Sydney also made much of the potential to help the cause of Aboriginal reconciliation, although this aspect has since been overshadowed by the impact of the Northern Territory National Emergency Response. One of the most telling observations from this book concerns the importance of faith. Claims to provide a lasting legacy of urban improvement, to promote social inclusion and rectify social injustices, to encourage greater participation in sport and to participate according to Olympic ideals of fairness all rely more on faith than empirical rigour. The impact of the London Games will be one of the first to be evaluated with reference to a reasonably robust baseline of empirical data, but we will be waiting some years before the results become available. By then the 2016 Games will probably have been held and a fresh set of promises about legacy will have been made by those competing to stage future events. While faith and commitment have always been important elements of the Olympic movement, as planners we know that faith-driven policies come with opportunity costs and that it is our responsibility to present these to the best of our abilities. The material collected together in this excellent collection provides a most welcome source of reference in this task.