An eye-opening, occasionally gross, and above all fascinating account explores what we do with the things we no longer want or need. Chapters titled “What Is Trash?”, “Where Does Our Garbage Come From?”, “Why Do We Make So Much Garbage?”, “Where Does Our Garbage Go?”, “What Can We Learn from Our Garbage?”, and “How Can We Do Better?” explore various kinds of waste; the waste stream, which exists for both an item’s production (upstream) and post-use (downstream); and options for what we can (and can’t) do with various kinds of waste; as well as some intriguing history. The absence of a table of contents is unfortunate, but the engaging narrative invites thoughtful consideration of the individual and collective impact of our choices and the cause-and-effect relationship humans have with garbage. A “Trash Timeline,” selected resources, and index are included in the back matter of a volume that is pure trash—in the best way possible. (Ages 9–14)

Total Garbage by Rebecca Donnelly dives into the messy truth about trash, garbage, waste, and our world—it's a fact-filled and fascinating illustrated middle grade environmental read!

Trash has been part of human societies since the beginning. It seems like the inevitable end to the process of making and using things—but why?

In this fascinating account of the waste we make, we'll wade into the muck of history and explore present-day STEM innovations to answer these important questions:

What is garbage?
Where does our garbage come from?
Why do we make so much garbage?
Where does our garbage go?
What can we learn from our garbage?
How bad is our garbage problem?
How can we do better?

Rebecca Donnelly tackles the extraordinary, the icky, and the everyday, helping us see how our choices, personal and societal, impact our world and our planet—and encouraging us make a change.

Back matter includes a timeline of the history of waste management, selected bibliography, and index.