Consumption and Waste in American Environmental History is an accessible introduction to the consumption experience, wasting practices, and disposal history of the United States, spanning precontact to the present.
Centered around concise case studies, the book confronts consumption and consumerism and assesses the impact of solid and hazardous wastes from political, economic, social, and especially environmental perspectives. The overarching relationship among consumption, waste, and climate change is woven throughout the book, identifying key questions and themes in United States environmental history. Each chapter explores a specific element of consumption and waste, including the commodification of humans and animals; depletion of resources; the role of immigrants, women, and people of color in sanitation services and as sanitary and environmental activists; salvaging and recycling; environmental justice; e-waste; plastics; space junk; and more.
With a broad chronology and a variety of relevant topics, this volume is an engaging resource for undergraduate and graduate students in American history, environmental history, and sustainability studies.
By:
Martin V. Melosi
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781032397641
ISBN 10: 1032397640
Series: Themes in Environmental History
Pages: 338
Publication Date: 31 March 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
Introduction Part 1: Precontact 1. Middens in Precontact America Part 2: Pre-Industrial America 2. The Great American Bison Extermination 3. Yankee Whaling in the 19th Century 4. Pigs and Horses in the Cities 5. African Slaves in Antebellum Plantations 6. Deforestation in Early Pennsylvania 7. Marshes as Wastelands in Early Louisiana Part 3: The Industrial Revolution and Urbanization 8. Immigrants and Garbage: Scow Trimmers, Rag Pickers, and the Juvenile Street Cleaning League 9. Municipal Housekeeping: Sanitary Reform and Gender Roles 10. The Goodwill and the Salvation Army: Recycling Goods and Saving Souls 11. The Great Gatsby and the Valley of Ashes Part 4: The Modern Consumer Culture 12. Slaughter of the Little Pigs: New Deal Planned Scarcity 13. The Fresno Sanitary Landfill 14. Salvaging, Recycling, and Rationing as Patriotism in World War II 15. The Berkeley Pit: On Butte’s Richest Hill on Earth 16. Consumerism and Planned Obsolescence 17. Garbage Grinders in Suburbia Part 5: Into the New Frontier 18. The 1968 New York City and Memphis Garbage Strikes 19. The Crying Indian and Greenwashing 20. Women, Civic Activism, and Love Canal 21. Warren County and Environmental Justice 22. The Mobro 4000: Barge to Nowhere Part 6: The 21st Century 23. Yucca Mountain and Nuclear Waste 24. E-Waste in the Electronics Age 25. Fresh Kills, 2001: From Landfill to Cemetery 26. Plastics in the Oceans 27. Space Junk Postscript: Zero Waste and the Circular Economy
Martin V. Melosi is Cullen Professor Emeritus of History and Founding Director of the Center for Public History at the University of Houston, USA. He is the author or editor of twenty-three books and more than 100 articles and book chapters in the fields of environmental, urban, energy, and public history.
