trash talk: moving toward a zero-waste world
* Shortlisted for the Red Cedar Non-fiction Book Award 2017, the Canadian Library Association’s 2016 Book of the Year for Children Award, the Silver Birch Non-fiction Award 2016, a Hackmatack Children’s Choice Award 2017, and the Green Earth Book Award 2016; nominated for the Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award 2015
Waste not, want not.
Humans have always generated garbage, whether it’s a chewed-on bone or a broken cell phone. Our landfills are overflowing, but with some creative thinking, stuff we once threw away can become a collection of valuable resources just waiting to be harvested. Trash Talk digs deep into the history of garbage, from Minoan trash pits to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and uncovers some of the many innovative ways people all over the world are dealing with waste.
Reviews
“Mulder focuses not only on reducing consumption but also on how we can recoup some of the energy and resources that are thrown away. Ingenious ideas like insulating homes with jeans or weaving old fishing nets into carpeting are just a couple ideas that will spark readers’ imaginations. With full-color photos of kids in action and startling but fascinating trivia about how much trash the world’s population produces, this offers a very compelling argument for conservation.”
- Booklist
“Mulder tells the garbage story in clean and engrossing prose, complemented by stock artwork and photographs … Mulder provides all sorts of alternatives to incineration, landfills and ocean dumping … Enclosed in these pages is plenty of food for thought and examples for direct action.”
- Kirkus Reviews
“What sets this book apart from the others is that it provides a history of garbage and shows readers some very innovative ways in which people all over the world are dealing with trash … Highly recommended.”
- CM Magazine
“Both a history of trash and a manual of its elimination (or diminution, at least), this nifty book covers a variety of topics … Employing readable language, Mulder chronicles the development of garbage disposal and goes on to castigate our throw-it-away-and-buy-a-new-one way of thinking … Colorful photos record garbage issues around the world and innovative solutions to cope with this mountainous problem … An informative call to action for young greenies.”
- School Library Journal
