Afterwords Books discussion

Post your thoughts! (The store still has a couple copies in stock if you need one).

Very interesting read, and really made me think about my own trash production. I thought I was pretty good about recycling and reducing waste, but I now realize I need to get much better. It's also very scary to think about the future of trash. Unfortunately, I can't make it to the book club discussion to hear what everyone else has to say.

Due to the Move and a water leak we are going to combine this discussion with the discussion of Brain on Fire. This will take place March 29th at the NEW LOCATION!

I'm enjoying chapter 12. It's about this family that is trying to live with no disposable/non-recyclable stuff (sorta like No Impact Man). It's extreme but admirable in my view. Lisa and I plan to attempt something like this in the future, although not to the same degree.

Did you see on his website you can send requests for him to Skype with your book club??

That would be awkward to skype with him because I kind of hated this book. Ha ha.

I finished this last night. I didn't hate it as Joe did but I only gave it 2 stars. Parts of it were dry and depressing. We get it, people are wasteful! Very few of us are going to do extreme things like create a reusable bag company or reduce our annual trash to the size of a mason jar. More middle ground, broader application solutions please!

With that said, I found the part about gathering population data from trash analysis was fascinating.

I'm only 120 pages in, but I agree with Ryan, except I think his writing style is quite lively and interesting! But I agree: we get it, let's do something about it, but let's not let this paralyze us as human beings.

Also, this book is like a lot of other non-fic books, interesting, but could've been summarized as a long feature for a magazine like The Atlantic or Time. I don't think it scales up to book-length very well without seeming repetitive.

I just thought it was really poorly written book on an important topic. Stats were presented in chapters that were unrelated and with no discussion of said stats. That is a big no-no in scientific or really any writing. If you present stats you're suppose to delve into what they mean to the discussion. He also said in the intro that you can see the great wall of china and the biggest landfill from space. Really? Right off the bat saying something that has no basis in reality. That is not true, you can't see either of those from space. Garbage is bad and so is this book. That was my take away message, which admittedly is a bit harsh.

Good points, Joe. Initially, I was happy that he presented stats in an easy-to-read way. As I read further and looked at his endnotes, I realized he didn't have as much data and support as I expect from such an important and complex issue. Granted, he's a journalist, not a scientist. But still.

I think this book prompts us to think about the issues, which is good. It's the perfect book to assign in a freshman or high school composition course, or for our book club! But if you are wanting to dig deep into this issue, it's not the best choice.

I was completely amazed by how much money there is to be made in trash collection and recycling.

If you haven't already, take a peek at this blog:

http://www.zerowastehome.blogspot.com...

Something to further the discussion on Friday!

Please start with this book of Friday. I did not read it. I will be there in time to discuss Brain on Fire. Well, hope to have it finished by then.

Discussion questions to spark our conversation tomorrow night: http://www.us.penguingroup.com/static...

I honestly could not get into this book. Looking forward to April's book.

I won't be able to make it tonight but really wanted to hear the discussion on Brain on Fire.

Danielle wrote: "I won't be able to make it tonight but really wanted to hear the discussion on Brain on Fire."

We will miss you, Danielle!

I still think we need an afterwords skype account.

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/2013...

Here's a story about the closing of landfill discussed in Garbology...
https://www.facebook.com/NPR/posts/10...