Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash (2005)

It's rare for me to finish a book and carry it straightaway to my computer to order all the books in its bibliography, but in this case, that's exactly what I did. It's one of those books that helps one to understand that everything one knows about, oh, say, recycling is completely and utterly wrong. All y'all should read this one, and then tell your friends about it. Meanwhile, I'm shopping for a composting toilet. ( )

This is a very dense book that appears to cover every possible aspect of garbage disposal and recycling in New York in particular and California and other states in general. Its quite interesting and very worthy and ... ultimately meaningless as a statistic towards the end reveals that only 2% of all garbage is household waste. The rest of it is industrial, primarily manufacturing and commercial, mostly restaurants and fast food outlets. One of the quite shocking (if you imagine this planet weighed down with detritus) figures is that for every 100 pounds of manufactured goods, 3,200 pounds of waste are generated.

Elizabeth Royte quotes from a paper by Samantha McBride of NYU's Dept. of Sociology on consumer recycing. 'Such programs', she wrote, redirect 'the focus of environmental concern away from the material unsustainability of the current economic system, instead turning it inward on the self'.

As long as we insist on living in an economy that revolves around forever researching, developing, manufacturing, selling, purchasing, using and discarding goods in favour of the Next New Thing, the focus on trash will be how to deal with it. We really should be concentrating on how not to make so much of it in the first place. But we won't, we're too addicted to 'new'. The thought of an economy that does not depend on consumerism would be considered anti-patriotic by Americans and, in any case, be unworkable in any present Western society.

So what to do? Buy a bag that says Green on it, divide up the garbage and feel satisfied that you are doing your bit for the planet and forget the other 98% that nullifies your efforts. Blinkers.

( )

Nothing much new except for a brave chapter on human waste, chapter 11, In the Realm of Taboo, briefly touching on constructed wetlands and humanure. ( )

A kind of "This is My Life" book. Consider today's trash, just waiting to join the rest of the world's trash, trash that a short time ago was something probably new and sitting on a shelf. Nontrash becomes trash, much as we do. A valuable set of bones, brain, skin, suddenly just dust to be tossed. Interesting book. Possibly can add the tab "humor". ( )

The story of reporting and interviews for the book are more interesting than the actual info. ( )