An investigative narrative that dives into the waste embedded in our daily lives—and shows how individuals and communities are making a real difference for health, prosperity, quality of life and the fight against climate change, by a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist What happens to our trash? Why are our oceans filling with plastic? Do we really waste 40 percent of our food 65 percent of our energy? Waste is truly our biggest problem, and solving our inherent trashiness can fix our economy, our energy costs, our traffic jams, and help slow climate change—all while making us healthier, happier and more prosperous.     This story-driven and in-depth exploration of the pervasive yet hard-to-see wastefulness that permeates our daily lives illuminates the ways in which we've been duped into accepting absolutely insane levels of waste as normal . Total Garbage also tells the story of individuals and communities who are finding the way back from waste, and showing us that our choices truly matter and make a difference.     Our big environmental challenges – climate, energy, plastic pollution, deforestation, toxic emissions—are often framed as problems too big for any one person to solve. Too big even for hope. But when viewed as symptoms of a single greater problem—the epic levels of trash and waste we produce daily--the way forward is clear. Waste is the one problem individuals can positively impact—and not just on the planet, but also on our wallets, our health, and national and energy security. The challenge is seeing our epic wastefulness clearly.     Total Garbage will shine a light on the absurdity of the systems that all of us use daily and take for granted--and it will help both individuals and communities make meaningful changes toward better lives and a cleaner, greener world. "This timely, highly recommended book makes a strong case for taking practical steps to reduce nonrenewable consumption and waste."   --Library Journal, starred review "An engrossing, practical guide to living healthier, less improvident lives and benefiting the planet by doing so." --Kirkus Reviews " Total Garbage is an engaging and uplifting book that offers compelling stories from experts and activists and strong recommendations to cut through the complacency or resignation that stymie efforts to create a greener, cleaner, more efficient world." --Booklist “Humes is back to make you want to read about waste again. Total Garbage is like a constellation of stories about people who shine brightly on their own, and yet together illuminate a path forward on one of the most pressing issues of our time, making waste obsolete.” —Dr. Jenna Jambeck, MacArthur genius grantee and coauthor of Plastics “Our system produces waste almost as if that was its intent; but there are always people thinking deeper and more clearly, and their stories will help you see the possibilities for a very different world!” --Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature   "Covering everything from your kitchen table to the depths of the ocean, this is the book to inform you about one of the biggest, most substantial crises humanity faces today: garbage. Thoughtful, inspiring, concerning, and even fun, Humes' book will entertain and inform you in ways that may well save both your life and our planet. Enjoy!” --Thom Hartmann, radio personality and author of The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight   "Edward Humes’s subject is waste, and he doesn’t waste a word making his eye-opening case. He zeroes in on ordinary things—food, energy, buildings, cars, clothing—that have morphed into grotesque, life-threatening, planet-destroying problems. For instance, plastics—a brilliant, almost indestructible invention we’re now ludicrously using to make things like potato chip bags that will be thrown away in minutes and last for centuries. But Humes is here to help, not horrify, and he introduces us to extraordinary, smart, indefatigable people who offer practical, affordable answers, concepts that in a few more years may well become household words—heat pumps, induction stoves, passive houses, community solar gardens, rural electric gardens, urban microfarms, refill stores, and thrifting. Total Garbage is total gold!" --Tony Hiss, award-winning author of Rescuing the Planet: Protecting Half the Land to Heal the Earth   “This brilliant book will first make you angry and then motivated to do more to protect this blue planet on which we all depend. It exposes the bafflingly wasteful practices that have become commonplace in modern society and goes further to provide clear ways we can act right now to solve our most pressing environmental problems. From passive houses, induction stoves, refillable bottles, electric golf carts, and new laws that would force firms away from disposable, single-use packaging, we see here a mix of individual and collective actions that can make a real difference in the real world. The gas industry and businesses hoping