Garbage Land

Garbage Land, by Elizabeth Royte

Elizabeth Royte took the gripping subject of garbage to heart learning everything she could about where what we toss off goes. In Garbage Land, from her Brooklyn brownstone by the gowanus canal, once the area dumping, she tracked recyclables, trash, garbage, human waste, the works. Her trash trek led her from the waters off New York City to the California coast. It's hugely revealing. She found out in the end that nothing ever gets reduced to nothing, it just changes, occasionally for better, but mostly for worse. I loved this book. She spins her story with dramatic flair. It's full of colorful people, haulers, biologists, engineers, greens, scrap processors, and a cast of entrepreneurs, including those who have transformed sludge into gold. Her adventures in front stoop composting alone are worth the read. Waste is hazardous; despite plethoric regulations. We shouldn't be lulled by our domestic recycling efforts, they're a drop in the bucket-no pun intended-compared to industry's output. I will never think about the down and dirty subject in the same way again.
-Susan