All That Trash: The Story of the 1987 Garbage Barge and Our Problem with Stuff

by Meghan McCarthy, Meghan McCarthy (Illustrator)

Overview

An ALA Notable Book

“The year was 1987 and a ship full of trash was about to become famous…The narrative is immensely readable…A fresh take on a story of old garbage guaranteed to spark conversations and a desire for actions among students. Highly recommended.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

A garbage barge that can’t find a place to welcome it sparks a recycling movement in the United States in this smart and smelly picture book from the author of Earmuffs for Everyone.

Lowell Harrelson wanted to turn trash into methane gas so he rented a barge called Morbo 4000. His plan was to ship the garbage from New York to North Carolina, but as the barge floated down the coast, no state would let him dock because of smelly waste on board! The barge became a mockery and the butt of many jokes in the media. What started as an attempted business venture turned into quite the predicament for Mr. Harrelson.

Mobro 4000 roamed the seas for forty-five days and traveled a distance of 6,000 miles. While awaiting its fate, the trash floated in New York’s harbor, garnering much attention by onlookers. Green Peace activists put up a large banner across the barge that read, “NEXT TIME…TRY RECYCLING.”

Even though the garbage barge was a farce, the unintended consequence inspired America to find a new way to deal with its trash.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481477536
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication date:	02/27/2018
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
Lexile:	800L (what's this?)
File size:	142 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Meghan McCarthy is the award-winning author and illustrator of many books for children, including Earmuffs for Everyone!: How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs; Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton; Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum; City Hawk: The Story of Pale Male; Seabiscuit the Wonder Horse; All That Trash; and Action! A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit her at Meghan-McCarthy.com.

Editorial Reviews

With her exuberantly silly illustrations, McCarthy…has a great way with nonfiction picture books.

The New York Times Book Review - Maria Russo

12/04/2017
Stowed, towed, shunned, shunted, guarded, studied, and eventually incinerated: McCarthy (The Wildest Race Ever) looks at what happened to an unwanted barge carrying more than 3,000 tons of New York trash in 1987 in this thoroughly researched picture book account. Her signature big-eyed cartoons and straightforward narrative style recount how the trash was loaded on a barge with a plan to let it decompose elsewhere to produce methane for energy production. All goes awry when no port will allow it to dock. Talking-head vignettes of politicians, newscasters, and the barge’s tugboat captain (flies encircling his head) comment via speech bubbles. “Wherever this stuff goes, it’s going to be somebody else’s problem,” says a Louisiana mayor. The discussion of America’s “problem with stuff,” as referenced in the subtitle, is relegated to the extensive backmatter, which includes details about the barge, the sensation it became, and the aftermath of the events described in the book, as well as information about America’s history with refuse and recycling. An entertaining true tale of a smelly saga in U.S. history. Ages 4–8. Agent: Alexandra Penfold, Upstart Crow Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

McCarthy sets her historical scene with three iconic 1980s images: a Mustang GT, an Apple “phone book” computer, and big hair, all depicted in McCarthy’s caricature-ish bug-eyed illustrations. She then introduces the situation: in 1987 Lowell Harrelson, a visionary businessman, commissions a barge loaded with 3,186 tons of garbage to take off from New York, head for North Carolina, and turn the garbage into energy, a process shown in a double-page diagram. When the press gets wind of the situation, public outcry at numerous ports of call denies the barge permission to land. As the barge travels from North Carolina to Alabama to Louisiana to Mexico the same refrain—“the garbage was not welcome”—emphasizes the futility of the plan. The contents are finally burned (although McCarthy does not specify where in the text), which reduces the bulk to four hundred tons of ash; but as one person’s trash may become another’s treasure, the episode wakens a national consciousness about reuse and recycling, further explored in an entertaining and informative back-matter discussion. An extensive bibliography is appended.

May/June 2018 - Horn Book

"McCarthy (Earmuffs for Everyone!, 2015; The Wildest Race Ever, 2016) has spent her career detailing offradar topics that seem trivial, until you realize they’re not. The story contains elements of adventure (the barge spends five months cruising the Atlantic), absurdity (a business owner in the Bahamas wants to build a resort atop the trash), and regret (a Greenpeace banner reads “Next Time . . . Try Recycling”). McCarthy’s cartoon-style acrylic illustrations convey a myriad of details, particularly concerning the people and equipment involved. " — Booklist

Jan 11, 2018 - Booklist

"McCarthy (Earmuffs for Everyone!, 2015; The Wildest Race Ever, 2016) has spent her career detailing offradar topics that seem trivial, until you realize they’re not. The story contains elements of adventure (the barge spends five months cruising the Atlantic), absurdity (a business owner in the Bahamas wants to build a resort atop the trash), and regret (a Greenpeace banner reads “Next Time . . . Try Recycling”). McCarthy’s cartoon-style acrylic illustrations convey a myriad of details, particularly concerning the people and equipment involved. " — Booklist

Jan 11, 2018 - Booklist

★ 01/01/2018
Gr 3–5—The year was 1987 and a ship full of trash was about to become famous. This is the engaging, humorous, and entirely true story of the 1987 Garbage Barge and its world-traveling adventure. When he discovered a New York landfill was almost full, Lowell Harrelson had a revolutionary idea. The owner of a waste management company wanted to take the trash to an alternate location and test a process that could create electricity from garbage. However, word leaked that an entire barge of trash was setting sail for parts unknown and suddenly no one would let him bring the trash ashore. A five month—long saga ensued, taking the debris all the way to Central America and back in search of a final resting place. The narrative is immensely readable and is graced with comical illustrations that feature period correct facial hair and clothing styles. Readers will gain perspective from several points of view, including government officials, news anchors, and even the captain of the tugboat in this excellently sourced and presented tale. An exceptional addition to environment or Earth Day collections, this will have appeal as both an independent read and a mentor text for whole class studies. The supplementary material includes photos from the actual barge, facts about the barge, recycling, garbage, and ocean garbage, as well as ideas for reusing trash. VERDICT A fresh take on a story of old garbage guaranteed to spark conversations and a desire for actions among students. Highly recommended.—Emily Beasley, Omaha Public Schools

School Library Journal

2017-11-22
McCarthy again tackles an unusual subject: a garbage barge that traveled for over 6,000 miles.With 3,186 tons of trash from New York, the barge with its accompanying tugboat went from Long Island to waters near North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana in the U.S. and then Mexico, Belize, and the Bahamas, before heading back to New York when all of these places refused to let the barge land. Major newscasters (represented in the author/illustrator's usual style with large eyes and little, lopsided mouths) reported on the barge's travels for months. The person who set the trip in motion, Lowell Harrelson, wanted to "let the steaming, oozing heap of garbage decompose, thus creating methane—and then energy!" Acrylic paintings, sometimes scenic, sometimes amusing, are mostly but not exclusively peopled by white males, with an occasional female newscaster and the Queens borough president, the first woman to hold that office. Although the monthslong incident was treated as a running joke in the media, there are lasting results. People became more aware of recycling, something that Greenpeace encouraged by unfurling a large banner on the barge, pictured in a double-paged spread. Backmatter includes recycling project photos and recycling facts, but many adults may wish for additional practical information as well.The topic alone may interest some individual readers, but this book will be most useful for teachers to use in environmental projects. (author's note, facts, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews