So What Exactly Does Happen to Our Garbage?
I have never been one to really read graphic novels, but
after reading Trashed by Derf
Backederf, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did this full
length novel keep me so enthralled that I found it difficult to put down the
book even once I was well past my 50 page quota, but it also informed me on a
current issue that I apparently didn’t know nearly as much about as I thought:
waste disposal in America. From cover to cover, we are taken through the roller
coaster that is the life of a current waste disposal expert, or “garbage man”
as they are more frequently known. On one side, the almost comedic and definitely
entertaining daily experiences of a college dropout turned garbage collector
Dan McCoy is enough to keep the audience in awe that such events could possibly
happen. On the other hand, however, Backederf does a masterful job at mixing in
statistics and facts that show just how ineffective our current waste disposal
system is. Unlike many novels, this book goes beyond just trying to entertain
an audience, it tries to do this while also calling for change. Day after day, season
after season, garbage men spill their blood and sweat for minimal pay so that
we can live the civilized lives we know and have come accustomed to. As a
former garbage collector himself, Backderf knows the atrocities of the
profession as well as anybody, and knows the hardships that one faces in this
profession on a daily basis. In addition to raising awareness for the
unappreciated garbage man, backderf’s insight on the staggering amount of waste
our nation produces, and the system for disposing it, makes this story one
truly worth reading, and might even make you think twice next time you go to
throw something in the garbage.
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