"Trash is a bit like birds. Both have their favourite habitats. I thought it might be worth taking a closer look at what we throw away and what it says about us. To follow the journey of the items we buy and discard. I wanted to find out more about what they're made of and what fate the future has in store for them." It starts with a day at the beach. A single white sock in the sand that somehow seems to spoil everything. It's enough to send Polish reporter and ornithologist Stanislaw Lubienski on a quest to understand what we throw away, where it goes and whether it will be our lasting legacy. By analysing items he unearths on his trips into nature - a plastic bottle, a tube of Russian penis-enlargement cream, a cigarette butt, an empty aerosol can - tracing their origins, their destination and the harm they can do, he shows how our consumer society has developed out of our control, to the point of environmental catastrophe. He also looks with a birdwatcher's eye at how various animals have come to adapt to and even rely on the rubbish we pollute their environment with, and at the cultural significance of trash and rubbish and the origins of our throw-away society. And in the finest Gonzo traditions, he inserts himself into his narrative by exmaning his own "environmental neurosis" and by going out with refuse crews to watch them work. Translated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones

"Everything looked perfect. Sand - unique Baltic sand, the best in the world - and the calm sea. But wait. Something was amiss. Something was wrong" It starts with a day at the beach. A single white sock that somehow spoils everything. It's enough to send writer and ornithologist Stanislaw Lubienski on a quest to understand what we throw away, where it goes and whether it will be our legacy. By analysing items he unearths on his trips into nature - a plastic bottle, a tube of Russian penis-enlargement cream, a cigarette butt, an empty aerosol can - tracing their origins and explaining the harm they can do, he shows how consumer society has developed out of control, to the point of environmental catastrophe. He also looks with a birdwatcher's eye at how various animals have come to adapt to and even rely on our rubbish, and interrogates the cultural significance of waste and the origins of our throw-away lifestyles. Finally, he adds a personal touch by examining his own "environmental neurosis" and by going out with refuse crews to watch them work. While Lubienski never hectors his readers, nor shames them, his clear-eyed, persuasive and humble polemic reminds us what we, as individuals, can and cannot do to address an apocalyptic issue while there's still something worth saving. Translated from the Polish by Zosia Krasodomska-Jones

Birds have inspired people since the dawn of time. They are the notes behind Mozart's genius, the colours behind Audubon's art and ballet's swansong. In The Birds They Sang, Stanislaw Lubienski sheds light on some of history's most meaningful bird and human interactions, from historical bird watchers in a German POW camp, to Billy and Kes in A Kestrel for a Knave. He muses on what exactly Hitchcock's birds had in mind, and reveals the true story behind the real James Bond. Undiscouraged by damp, discomfort and a reed bunting's curse, Lubienski bears witness to the difficulties birds face today as people fail to accommodate them in rapidly changing times. A soaring exploration of our fascination with birds, The Birds They Sang opens a vast realm of astonishing sounds, colours and meanings - a complete world in which we humans are never alone.