Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash
by Elizabeth Royte
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Book Summary Information
Author: Elizabeth RoyteEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-08-29
ISBN: 031615461X
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Book Reviews of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash
Book Review: It's a shame the way Detritus........
Summary: 5 Stars
This very well- written and well-researched book talks about how landfills have poisoned the earth, how some fertilizer, labeled "organic" is full of toxins, dioxins, heavy metals and how it is used on pasture land and (altho it is forbidden to do so) may, somewhere, somehow.... be used on crops. Some of this sewage sludge is spread in fruit orchards.
Toxins, dioxins, heavy metals, people near landfills that they didn't want in the first place, being sickened -- the book's readers may well ask-- How much pollution can the body tolerate???
The book also what goes on inside of landfills, and what leaches out from these landfills. It talks about how garbage is supposed to be aerobically "digested" in landfills, but how plastic bags and other factors usually impede this "digestion". It discusses where the landfills are and how the poorer areas of this country have landfills pretty much foisted upon them, with resultant cancers and other illnesses.
It discusses recycling and how so little is done to recycle on a broader level. It discusses sewage treatment and the lack thereof (especially on rainy days in some big cities)
Reading it makes me want to eat organic only -- hmmm... no..it makes me want to raise my own foods.... or...live on air..no,that too is polluted.
Can we do something to change the toxins extant and still growing in this world? Perhaps. This book touches upon alternatives.
The title - "Garbageland" -- altho it appears msileading is unfortunately (as you will find out by careful reading of this book) quite true as it applies to what generations have done to pollute Mother Earth.
The author, Elizabeth Royte, living in New York City, does a superhuman job of meticulously tracking meticulously tracks her garbage -- from kitchen to curb and onward to processing plant, to landfill -- and she does so on her own (at one point, being denied access, she very bravely and surreptitiously picked around on her own, at a huge landfill in Pennsylvania) and also with the help (New York San Men and other memorable individuals) of those in charge of picking it up, processing and recycling it. SHe tracks her sewer line, to processing plant, to recycling plant (sewage sludge - which is turned into "organic" fertilizer).
In the process of meticulously researching, crawling thru garbage, being at one point, a persona non grata on the subway because of the fumous stench emanating from her puffy jacket, she finds out about what is helping, hindering, impeding and blocking the ability of humanity to committ to recycling, and clean up their garbage and wasteful habits.
She also discusses the options we have -- and how few people are currently pursuing these options - vs- how many are not. But, she emphasizes, we NEED to pursue these options (such as composting toilets, use of glass and metals -vs- plastics) in order to mantain an environment that we can live in, in the near future.
GarbageLand is a long, but VERY interesting read -- it talks about much more than just garbage, recycling and sewage sludge.This is a book with a conscience and a cry for help.
Summary of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash
Out of sight, out of mind ... Into our trash cans go dead batteries, dirty diapers, bygone burritos, broken toys, tattered socks, eight-track cassettes, scratched CDs, banana peels.... But where do these things go next? In a country that consumes and then casts off more and more, what actually happens to the things we throw away? In Garbage Land, acclaimed science writer Elizabeth Royte leads us on the wild adventure that begins once our trash hits the bottom of the can. Along the way, we meet an odor chemist who explains why trash smells so bad; garbage fairies and recycling gurus; neighbors of massive waste dumps; CEOs making fortunes by encouraging waste or encouraging recycling-often both at the same time; scientists trying to revive our most polluted places; fertilizer fanatics and adventurers who kayak amid sewage; paper people, steel people, aluminum people, plastic people, and even a guy who swears by recycling human waste. With a wink and a nod and a tightly clasped nose, Royte takes us on a bizarre cultural tour through slime, stench, and heat-in other words, through the back end of our ever-more supersized lifestyles. By showing us what happens to the things we've "disposed of," Royte reminds us that our decisions about consumption and waste have a very real impact-and that unless we undertake radical change, the garbage we create will always be with us: in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we consume. Radiantly written and boldly reported, Garbage Land is a brilliant exploration into the soiled heart of the American trash can.Engineering Books
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