Thicker Than Water, Erica Cirino
Thicker Than Water, Erica Cirino
List: $17.99 | Sale: $12.59
Club: $8.99

Thicker Than Water
The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis

Author: Erica Cirino

Narrator: Angie Kane

Unabridged: 7 hr 11 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/07/2021


Synopsis

Instead of a great island of trash, the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up of manmade debris spread over hundreds of miles of sea—more like a soup than a floating garbage dump. Recycling is more complicated than we were taught: less than nine percent of the plastic we create is reused, and the majority ends up in the ocean. And plastic pollution isn’t confined to the open sea: it’s in much of the air we breathe and the food we eat. In Thicker Than Water, journalist Erica Cirino brings listeners on a globe-hopping journey to meet the scientists and activists who help her tell the real story of the plastic crisis. From the deck of a plastic-hunting sailboat with a disabled engine to the labs doing cutting-edge research on microplastics and the chemicals we ingest, Cirino paints a full picture of how plastic pollution is threatening wildlife and human health and reveals that the plastic crisis is also a tale of environmental injustice: poorer nations take in a larger share of the world’s trash, and manufacturing chemicals threaten predominantly Black and low-income communities. There is some hope on the horizon, though, with new laws banning single-use items and technological innovations to replace plastic in our lives. But Cirino shows that we can only fix the problem if we face its full scope and begin to repair our throwaway culture. Thicker Than Water is an eloquent call to reexamine the systems churning out waves of plastic waste.

About Erica Cirino

Erica Cirino is a science writer and artist who explores the intersection of human and nonhuman worlds. Her photographic and written works have appeared in Scientific American, The Guardian, VICE, Hakai Magazine, The Atlantic, and other esteemed publications. She is a recipient of fellowships from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, and Safina Center, as well as several awards for visual art.

About Angie Kane

Angie Kane is a theatre artist and audiobook narrator based in Southeast Michigan. She is a proud member of the Actors' Equity Association and a Resident Artist of The Purple Rose Theatre Company.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sari on January 23, 2022

I want to press Thicker Than Water into everyone's hands. The subject is one I generally knew, but the particulars were startling--Cyborg babies, for example. Erica Cirino is a fantastic guide. She travels all over the world and gives her readers a nuanced understanding of plastic and how it is impa......more

Goodreads review by Deborah on November 11, 2022

This book gave a nice, balanced look at the amount of plastic that is found in our waterways, oceans and lakes all over the world. It gave some basic history to the discovery of plastic, how it was originally used and what is has turned into today, with many plastics either burned as waste, escaping......more

Goodreads review by Caroline on November 09, 2021

Erica is an engaging writer.......more

Goodreads review by Annelise on April 15, 2025

I thought this provided a really comprehensive overview of the impacts of plastic pollution and challenges in tackling it. While not all the info was new to me (I work in plastic pollution advocacy), I still learned so many new things that I’m excited about! Namely: 1. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and fat......more

Goodreads review by Evan on December 29, 2021

I thoroughly enjoyed the journey of the book, which is an odd thing to say given the subject matter was far from cheerful. Erica Cirino takes us on a journey to sea into the Pacific garbage patch and then around other parts of the world examining the plastic problem. Essentially the book covers how......more