Trash Revolution Ontario: Breaking the Waste Cycle

Though there have been many children’s books written about environmental issues, Trash Revolution takes a slightly different tack and not only provides readers with information about how to reduce their carbon and water footprints, but it also explains the processes by which various materials are made, each of which adds even more waste to the environment than the end product. The writing is both crisp and engaging. Following an introduction which explains the term “supply and demand” as well as the difference between “open-loop” and “closed-loop” systems (the former being a single-use item and the latter being something that can be reused or recycled), the book is divided into nine chapters which feature water, food, clothing, paper, plastic, metals, electronics and space waste, with the final chapter devoted to suggestions for a zero-waste future. A glossary and an index are provided, along with a double-page spread which offers a lengthy list of resources for further study. These include web sites, books, radio programs and videos, sorted by topic.

The basic premise of Trash Revolution is that everything is part of a life cycle, from raw materials to manufacturing, packaging, transporting and selling to using and consuming, trashing and recycling. At each of these steps, waste is produced, and humans have an obligation to reduce the amount of waste if they are to protect Earth. A staggering statistic is that in their lifetime, each human will generate 600 times their weight in waste.

To present the book’s information in a unique way, the author uses a relatable object- a backpack. She states that almost anything one needs to survive and communicate can fit into a backpack, and so each chapter (with the exception of the last two) focuses on an item that a student might carry to school in a backpack. For example, a water bottle is related to the chapter about water, a quiz represents paper, and a t-shirt worn for gym class represents clothing. This is an interesting concept because it forces kids to examine commonly used and consumed items in terms of the waste produced from the manufacturing stage all the way to their discard in the trash or the recycling bin. For instance, when considering the footprint of their lunch (a footprint is comprised of both the carbon and the water footprint), readers will be shocked to discover that throwing away just half a cheese sandwich is like pouring 179 liters of water down the drain or flushing the toilet 23 times. Buying polyester clothing also has an impact on the environment: over 70 million barrels of oil are used in the manufacture of synthetic clothing every year; and every time a polyester garment is laundered, it sheds 1900 plastic fibers which end up in the oceans, adding to the burgeoning problem of plastics in the ocean, totaling some 5.25 trillion pieces! Both large and small electronics contribute to E-waste, and people’s propensity for replacing their cell phones every couple of years, often for no other reason than to get the latest model, just adds more E-waste to the landfill. Scientists are developing different types of food and clothing for use in space travel, and some of the concepts used in their development could be applied to Earth. Interestingly, the comparison between daily consumption and waste on the International Space Station and on Earth shows that an astronaut consumes far less and creates less waste than a human on Earth.

Besides the information found within the body of the text, Trash Revolution contains several “recipes”, such as a recipe for cotton and for paper, as well as a “supply and demand” chart for each topic, and waste comparison charts (e.g. plastic bottle versus glass, eBook versus paper book). Kids will learn to read the codes on produce stickers in the supermarket to find out which foods were grown locally, which are organic and which have been genetically modified. There are stories about people who are making a difference, some examples of which are the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, also known as the “Landfillharmonic”, that made musical instruments out of metal trash, and 19-year-old Boyan Slat who invented an ocean cleanup system that does not harm sea life.

Bill Slavin’s signature illustrations, rendered in pen and ink and coloured in Photoshop, add lightness and, occasionally, a touch of humour to the serious topic and no doubt will contribute to the reader’s enjoyment of the book.

There is plenty of food for thought in Trash Revolution, and even though the targeted audience is not typically the purchaser of the family’s groceries, clothing or electronics, readers will have a greater awareness of the waste produced by the household items that their family uses on a daily basis. Perhaps what is needed most in order to secure a better future is a change in attitude and to examine our buying habits and not fall prey to consumerism in our “must-have”, throw-away society. Trash Revolution reinforces the need to be aware, to make responsible choices, and for everyone to do their part in reducing the amount of waste in the environment.