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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.
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Previews available in: English
Subjects
Refuse and refuse disposal, Nonfiction, Politics, Sociology, Sanitary And Municipal Engineering, Social Science, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences - Ecology - Recycling, Social Science / Sociology / Rural, Sociology - Urban, New York, New York (State), New york (state), social conditionsPlaces
New York (State), New YorkShowing 7 featured editions. View all 7 editions?
Edition | Availability |
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1
Garbage Land
2007, Little, Brown and Company
Electronic resource
in English
0316030732 9780316030731
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WorldCat
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2
Garbage land: on the secret trail of trash
2006, Back Bay Books
in English
- 1st Back Bay paperback ed.
031615461X 9780316154611
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zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
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3
Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash
August 29, 2006, Back Bay Books
Paperback
in English
031615461X 9780316154611
|
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
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4
Garbage land: on the secret trail of trash
2006, Back Bay Books
in English
- 1st Back Bay pbk. ed.
031615461X 9780316154611
|
eeee
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5
Garbage land: on the secret trail of trash
2006, Back Bay Books
in English
- 1st Back Bay pbk. ed.
031615461X 9780316154611
|
eeee
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
6
Garbage land: on the secret trail of trash
2006, Back Bay Books
in English
- 1st Back Bay pbk. ed.
031615461X 9780316154611
|
zzzz
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
7
Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash
July 13, 2005, Little, Brown and Company, Little, Brown
Hardcover
in English
0316738263 9780316738262
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Libraries near you:
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- Created April 30, 2008
- 6 revisions
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August 12, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 14, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Linked existing covers to the edition. |
April 30, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record. |