Sustainable Materials without the hot air

Book excerpt: Now in its second edition, Sustainable Materials shows how we can greatly reduce the amount of material demanded and used in manufacturing, while still meeting everyone's needs. Materials, transformed from natural resources into the buildings, equipment, vehicles and goods that underpin our remarkable lifestyle, are made with amazing efficiency. But our growing demand is not sustainable. Production of just five materials – steel, aluminium, paper, plastics and cement – accounts for 55% of industrial emissions, and demand for materials will double by 2050. Can we continue to live well but use less materials? So far people have considered the problem with only one eye open, hoping for a magic solution (such as carbon capture and storage). But with both eyes open we have a whole new set of options. Rather than making more materials, we can use them more wisely – with less material, keeping them for longer, re-using their parts and more. These options make a huge difference: we really could set up our children with a more sustainable life, without compromising our own. Sustainable Materials faces up to the impacts of making materials in the 21st century. Drawing on their experiences working with innovative materials as well as the facts and findings of their research, Julian Allwood and Jonathan Cullen provide an evidence-based vision of change that will allow us to make our future more sustainable. Packed with hundreds of colour photos and helpful graphs and diagrams, Sustainable Materials provides a thorough analysis of the problems that we face through wasteful attitudes and the growing demand for materials, as well as an evaluation of practical and achievable solutions for the future. The first edition of this optimistic and richly-informed book was listed as one of Bill Gate's top reads in 2015, and was also chosen as an Outstanding Academic Title by ACRL Choice magazine. This up-to-date, revised edition is perfect for anyone with an interest in sustainability.