Trash Talk, Iris Gottlieb
Trash Talk, Iris Gottlieb
List: $17.50 | Sale: $12.25
Club: $8.75

Trash Talk
An Eye-Opening Exploration of Our Planet's Dirtiest Problem

Author: Iris Gottlieb

Narrator: Dani Martineck

Unabridged: 6 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 08/20/2024

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

An eye-opening, illustrated look at something we often take for granted—our trash, and the systems in place that make it disappear (or not)

In a world of mass consumption and busy schedules, taking the time to understand our own trash habits can be daunting. In Trash Talk, the ever-curious and talented Iris Gottlieb pulls back the curtain on the intricacies of the global trash production system and its contribution to climate change. From the history of the mafia’s rule of the New York sanitation system to orbital debris (space trash) to the myth of recycling, Gottlieb will help readers see trash in a whole new way.
    Complete with beautiful illustrations and several landfills’ worth of research, Trash Talk shines a much-needed light on a system that has been broken for far too long, providing readers with surprising, disgusting, and insightful information to better understand how we affect garbage and how it affects us.

* This audiobook edition includes a bonus PDF containing diagrams and illustrations from the book.

About The Author

Iris Gottlieb is an illustrator and author who works to make information more accessible through her content. They have illustrated for the New York Times, Smithsonian magazine, NPR, and Good Company, among others, and they have collaborated with museums around the country. Their previous books include Seeing Science, Seeing Gender, Natural Attraction, and Everything Is Temporary.


Reviews

Goodreads review by sarah on February 23, 2025

My current top book recommendation for 2025!! Everyone should read it. I checked it out from my local library. While it focuses on anxiously heavy topics, which may seem OVERLY depressing at this ridiculously distressing time, the author's candor, illustrations, and knowledge make it worthwhile. The......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on March 25, 2025

A popular science book that has little to no science in it. Instead it's a musings on a wide range of topics that are mostly associated with trash. This has the now standard climate change emphasis, I get it and I agree, but i wanted to learn about a subject I didn't know about. It also has the expe......more

Goodreads review by Lauren on April 15, 2025

superficial overview of waste. discusses a bunch of topics but doesn't go into detail about them, and doesn't really give quantitative comparisons between the categories. kind of just mentions each type of waste and moves on to the next. I wish the author injected fewer of their own personal experie......more

Goodreads review by Nicky on April 22, 2025

I love the illustrations and how engaging this book is. It really covers an exhaustive list of topics including medical waste, orbital debris, and the funeral industry. As a Maryland native I was impressed with the inclusion of our trash wheels!......more

Goodreads review by Vickie on February 02, 2025

Very eye-opening book. Definitely worth reading.......more


Quotes

"A must-read for anyone who cares about understanding how the Earth got 'trashed.'"
--Kirkus

“Gottlieb’s candor and willing­ness to call out these painful truths make Trash Talk a book readers will remember and share.”
--BookPage

"As this sprightly book makes clear, it's hard to throw something 'away' because a finite planet doesn't really have an away--not even in orbit, where space junk is piling up. So we better start thinking through some new approaches!"
--Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

"Trash Talk is a brilliant, revelatory delight to read. It is an anthropological whodunit that thoroughly describes how much we extract from the living world and transform it into the dead world. Who thought a book on trash could be a page-turner. Think again!"
--Paul Hawken, author of Drawdown and Regeneration
 
“Like all of Iris Gottlieb's books, Trash Talk is a marvel of fascinating information, relatable insights, and laugh-out-loud hilarious illustrations and commentary. You'll be engrossed, entertained, and horrified by all the waste-related facts packed into the book, along with genuinely useful details about the world of trash that most of us know so little about. Everyone should read this book!”
--Margaret (Mei) and Irene Li, authors of Perfectly Good Food: A Totally Achievable Zero Waste Approach to Home Cooking