Household Waste

Children's Literature - Amy S. Hansen

Part of the "Dealing With Waste" series, Morgan's book looks at a topic kids are familiar with—empty bottles, cans and wastepaper. "People throw away many kinds of things. Much of the waste comes from the kitchen or garden. There are food scraps, lawn clippings and weeds a well as paper, plastic and metals." Using a photo of a spilled garbage can, the percentage of each type of waste is shown, so paper is 25 percent of the garbage, plastic 11 percent, while metal and glass are 9 percent. Then she asks, where does your waste go? How can it be recycled and reused? Morgan asks and answers these questions for each of the items that end up in most recycling bins—glass, paper and cardboard, metals and plastics. She explains both the energy saved by recycling and the landfill space saved. In addition she looks at hazardous waste and what happens to recycling in different parts of the world. Each two-page spread has bright pictures and boxed information titled "It's my world!" and "Did you know..." While it doesn't break any new ground, this is a strong book that will address issues most readers can and should understand. Index, glossary and websites included in the backmatter. Reviewer: Amy S. Hansen