★ 04/17/2023
Franklin-Wallis, an editor at GQ , debuts with an alarming exposé of how waste is handled around the world. Outlining the inequitable ways in which the world disposes of trash and sharing the stories of those affected, the author recounts his time climbing mountains of refuse with “waste pickers,” who make a living gathering recyclables from a Delhi landfill, and describes the work of an environmental scientist who oversees the site of a former Oklahoma town abandoned after toxic byproducts from nearby mines made it uninhabitable. Franklin-Wallis pays keen attention to how waste disposal intersects with social justice, as when he discusses how legal loopholes incentivize rich countries to export their recyclables to the global south, where they end up leaching chemicals from landfills, a practice known as “toxic colonialism.” A fierce critic of greenwashing, the author suggests that “compostable plastics” are mostly bunk and describes how some grocery stores incinerate the recyclables they collect from customers. Franklin-Wallis achieves the difficult feat of making an ostensibly mundane topic feel urgent, and the compassionate profiles effectively humanize a problem that’s massive in scope. Additionally, his proposed solutions are well considered, including suggestions to “make greenwashing illegal” and hold companies responsible for the waste they produce, no matter where it ends up. It’s a vital call to action. (July)
With his investigative chops and contagious curiosity, Oliver Franklin-Wallis has cracked wide a dozen hidden, jaw-dropping worlds. … Yet despite its grim revelations, the book offers hope—for we can’t begin to make things right until we understand the nuanced realities of what is wrong. Wasteland is compelling, smart, fair, often funny, always interesting, and just f*ing important. Truly, it’s the most impressive nonfiction I’ve read in quite some time.”—Mary Roach, author of Stiff and Fuzz fascinating and comprehensive tour of the second half of that equation – the tossed-out usually gets a thousandth the attention of the not-yet-purchased, but Oliver Franklin-Wallis does his best to redress that balance, in a book that wills you see the world quite differently than you did before.”—Bill McKibben , author of The End of Nature Gaia Vince, award-winning journalist and author of Transcendence and Nomad Century Wasteland , Oliver Franklin-Walls offers us a behind the scenes guide to the processing plants, rubbish tips and refuse mountains that lurk in our back yards; the thundering machinery and skilled workers who strive tirelessly to relieve us of the spoils of our own profligacy. As he does so, he turns up rare treasures and unexpected beauties amid the junk and the mess. Tirelessly reported, it is a book both horrifying in its implications and gleefully hair-raising in the way it is told.”—Cal Flynn , award-winning author of Islands of Abandonment and Thicker than Water Wasteland will open your eyes to the reality of our throwaway society.”—Henry Mance, award-winning interviewer and author of How to Love Animals a vital call to action ."—Publisher's Weekly Kirkus Review Wasteland is an all-encompassing journey into what we throw away. The author's penetrating insight into how we both create and are threatened by this garbage shows the striking connection between humanity and our planet."—Booklist Next Big Idea Club Wasteland is an engaging read, and Franklin-Wallis writes in a personable style lightened by occasional touches of wit."—BookBrowse
2023-03-25
Franklin-Wallis, features editor at British GQ , is interested in what happens to things after we throw them away, although the story inevitably becomes intertwined with his personal attempts to reduce his own output. The author chronicles his treks through sewer systems and visits to recycling plants, staggered by the size of the waste problem even while finding some reasons for optimism in changing social attitudes and practices. However, as he shows, most solutions seem to generate further problems. For example, he believed that using tote bags instead of plastic was environmentally responsible, until he learned that totes come with a sizable footprint. For decades, wealthy countries exported their waste to poorer countries, and although the practice has diminished, there is a painful legacy. Writing about his trips to India and Ghana, he shows us that they have waste problems of their own, many so massive they might be impossible to overcome. The most common ways to dispose of waste are to burn it, bury it, dump it into the ocean, or simply let it pile up. Of course, these “solutions” merely turn it into a problem for someone else. Franklin-Wallis wishes he could offer a sweeping solution, but he sees no easy fixes. He proposes legislation to require greater transparency from companies, which is a good idea but does not get to the core issue of waste being caused by overproduction, which in turn is tied to overconsumption. “The conclusion that I come to is laughably simple,” he writes. “Buy less stuff. I recognize that this is not the most original idea, but there’s something liberating in it.” Is this sort of individual action the remedy? It’s an essential part, perhaps, but it’s not a satisfying answer. Nevertheless, the author gives readers much to ponder.
A sturdy outline of the future of toxic chemicals, microplastics, and endless garbage.
Sometimes it seems as if our main role as humans is to enjoy shiny things for a little while until they become discarded things. This is a fascinating and comprehensive tour of the second half of that equation – the tossed-out usually gets a thousandth the attention of the not-yet-purchased, but Oliver Franklin-Wallis does his best to redress that balance, in a book that wills you see the world quite differently than you did before.
author of The End of Nature Bill McKibben
With his investigative chops and contagious curiosity, Oliver Franklin-Wallis has cracked wide a dozen hidden, jaw-dropping worlds. … Yet despite its grim revelations, the book offers hope—for we can’t begin to make things right until we understand the nuanced realities of what is wrong. Wasteland is compelling, smart, fair, often funny, always interesting, and just f*ing important. Truly, it’s the most impressive nonfiction I’ve read in quite some time.
author of Stiff and Fuzz Mary Roach
Franklin-Wallis achieves the difficult feat of making an ostensibly mundane topic feel urgent, and the compassionate profiles effectively humanize a problem that’s massive in scope. Additionally, his proposed solutions are well considered, including suggestions to “make greenwashing illegal” and hold companies responsible for the waste they produce, no matter where it ends up. It’s a vital call to action .
An urgent, probing and endlessly interesting investigation into our staggering wastefulness and the environmental crisis this is creating right under our noses. In Wasteland , Oliver Franklin-Walls offers us a behind the scenes guide to the processing plants, rubbish tips and refuse mountains that lurk in our back yards; the thundering machinery and skilled workers who strive tirelessly to relieve us of the spoils of our own profligacy. As he does so, he turns up rare treasures and unexpected beauties amid the junk and the mess. Tirelessly reported, it is a book both horrifying in its implications and gleefully hair-raising in the way it is told.
award-winning author of Islands of Abandonment and Cal Flynn
Wise, honest, and unsparing, Wasteland will open your eyes to the reality of our throwaway society.
award-winning interviewer and author of How to Lov Henry Mance
Franklin-Wallis achieves the difficult feat of making an ostensibly mundane topic feel urgent… It’s a vital call to action."
Just as everything we consume comes from somewhere on earth, so too everything we produce must go somewhere on earth—even if we don't want to think about it. This book compels us to. A fascinating, deeply researched, and hugely important exposé of what happens to the stuff we no longer want, and the social and environmental cost of dealing with it. Revelatory, thoughtful, and honest about our complex relationship with waste.
award-winning journalist and author of Transcenden Gaia Vince
Chris Harper has his work cut out for him in this chilling audiobook about waste around the globe. His challenge is to keep to a reportorial tone amid the horrifying reports of toxic mountains of garbage. He maintains the right pace and cadence as he recounts the author's discoveries, which include an island of plastic three times the size of France in the Pacific, corporate mismanagement through misrepresented facts, the idiocy of fast fashion, and other forms of outright crime and widespread greed. Happily, the author's combined journalistic and personal approach is aided by Harper's British coolness. He captures the author's urgent call for change in these profiles, stories, and facts. Franklin-Wallis's own behavior includes recycling vehemently and learning to sew. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Chris Harper has his work cut out for him in this chilling audiobook about waste around the globe. His challenge is to keep to a reportorial tone amid the horrifying reports of toxic mountains of garbage. He maintains the right pace and cadence as he recounts the author's discoveries, which include an island of plastic three times the size of France in the Pacific, corporate mismanagement through misrepresented facts, the idiocy of fast fashion, and other forms of outright crime and widespread greed. Happily, the author's combined journalistic and personal approach is aided by Harper's British coolness. He captures the author's urgent call for change in these profiles, stories, and facts. Franklin-Wallis's own behavior includes recycling vehemently and learning to sew. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
