Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash

What happens to the garbage after it's picked up in front of the house by a huge, noisy truck? Elizabeth Royte set out to find the answer, and in this entertaining exposé she tracks garbage to its final destination: in New York, the Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. Tackling the issues of pollution, NIMBY, and crime, Royte interviews those responsible for keeping garbage out of sight and smell, and doesn't neglect the colorful details of the garbage world, some of them (like decomposition) rather unsavory, others (like garbagemen's slang) fascinating indeed. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year for 2005.

"[S]he...challenges her readers to disprove the resigned assessment of a former New York sanitation commissioner: 'In the end, the garbage will win.'" - (New Yorker, 9/12/05)

"Her investigation into waste processing and recycling...reveals some startlingly confused thinking about garbage....Royte gives a sober accounting of the unresolved environmental dangers inherent in many cities' antiquated waste management systems...." - (Ruminator Review, 9/30/05)

"Royte is a natural storyteller and skillful natural historian. Few others could have pulled off turning our feculence into fascination." - (Kirkus, 5/1/05)

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