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)