Explains how people create too much waste and how waste is now recycled and put into landfills.

On Level Student Book

What is a landfill? What makes some garbage dangerous? Why it is good to recycle--and can we recycle water? Kids see the garbage truck all the time--but this entertaining and educational book will tell them what it does and where it goes, along with other facts about the trash we create and how it affects the environment.

Hold your nose while you read about the disgustingly fascinating world of garbage!

Banana peels, apple cores, candy wrappers, and dirty diapers—it’s all garbage. No one wants garbage piling up around their homes, so we put it at the curb for the garbage truck. The answers to where that garbage ends up might surprise readers. Informative photographs and a summarizing diagram show readers where our garbage goes. The text also offers ideas on how to help protect the planet by reducing the amount of garbage we throw away.

“A galvanizing exposé” of America’s trash problem from plastic in the ocean to “wasteful packaging, bogus recycling, and flawed landfills and incinerators” (Booklist, starred review). Eat a take-out meal, buy a pair of shoes, or read a newspaper, and you’re soon faced with a bewildering amount of garbage. The United States is the planet’s number-one producer of trash. Each American throws out 4.5 pounds daily. But garbage is also a global problem. Today, the Pacific Ocean contains six times more plastic waste than zooplankton. How did we end up with this much rubbish, and where does it all go? Journalist and filmmaker Heather Rogers answers these questions by taking readers on a grisly and fascinating tour through the underworld of garbage. Gone Tomorrow excavates the history of rubbish handling from the nineteenth century to the present, pinpointing the roots of today’s waste-addicted society. With a “lively authorial voice,” Rogers draws connections between modern industrial production, consumer culture, and our throwaway lifestyle (New York Press). She also investigates the politics of recycling and the export of trash to poor countries, while offering a potent argument for change. “A clear-thinking and peppery writer, Rogers presents a galvanizing exposé of how we became the planet’s trash monsters. . . . [Gone Tomorrow] details everything that is wrong with today’s wasteful packaging, bogus recycling, and flawed landfills and incinerators. . . . Rogers exhibits black-belt precision.” —Booklist, starred review

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.

Read and find out about how we can reduce, reuse, and recycle in this colorfully illustrated nonfiction picture book. "Perfect for classes just beginning to study environmental concerns," wrote School Library Journal. "Engaging prose and upbeat, gently humorous illustrations introduce the importance of proper trash disposal and recycling." This is a clear and appealing science book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. In clear language and art, including diagrams, the book takes readers through such details as how much trash each person creates every day (on average), where the trash goes, and ways kids can make a difference. It concludes with instructions on how to create a compost pile What Happens to Our Trash is a Level 2 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores more challenging concepts for children in the primary grades. The 100+ titles in this leading nonfiction series are: hands-on and visual acclaimed and trusted great for classrooms Top 10 reasons to love LRFOs: Entertain and educate at the same time Have appealing, child-centered topics Developmentally appropriate for emerging readers Focused; answering questions instead of using survey approach Employ engaging picture book quality illustrations Use simple charts and graphics to improve visual literacy skills Feature hands-on activities to engage young scientists Meet national science education standards Written/illustrated by award-winning authors/illustrators & vetted by an expert in the field Over 130 titles in print, meeting a wide range of kids' scientific interests Books in this series support the Common Core Learning Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, and the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) standards. Let's-Read-and-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.

When a little town on Long Island is inundated with garbage, its citizens become more environmentally aware, while a garbage barge travels the North American coast in search of a dumping location.

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.