A big city garbage truck makes its rounds, consuming everything from apple cores and banana peels to leftover ziti with zucchini.

Environmental concerns become significant in Brunetti's work when an investigator from the Carabiniere, looking into the illegal hauling of garbage, asks for a favor. But the investigator is not the only one with a special request. His father-in-law needs help and a mysterious woman comes into the picture. Brunetti soon finds himself in the middle of an investigation into murder and corruption more dangerous than anything he's seen before.

"What happens to our trash? Why are our oceans filling with plastic? Do we really waste 40 percent of our food 65 percent of our energy? Waste is truly our biggest problem, and solving our inherent trashiness can fix our economy, our energy costs, our traffic jams, and help slow climate change-all while making us healthier, happier and more prosperous. This story-driven and in-depth exploration of the pervasive yet hard-to-see wastefulness that permeates...

"When you drop your Diet Coke can or yesterday's newspaper in the recycling bin, where does it go? Probably halfway around the world, to people and places that clean up what you don't want and turn it into something you can't wait to buy. In Junkyard Planet, Adam Minter-- veteran journalist and son of an American junkyard owner-- travels deeply into a vast, often hidden, multibillion-dollar industry that's transforming our economy and environment....

Fourteen-year-olds Raphael and Gardo team up with a younger boy, Rat, to figure out the mysteries surrounding a bag Raphael finds during their daily life of sorting through trash in a third-world country's dump.

"What a Waste! explores the problem of garbage and how humans have dealt with it from prehistory to modern times. Topics include how archaeologists study ancient garbage; the growth of consumer culture and disposability; food waste; the environmental effects of garbage; "problem" garbage like electronic and toxic waste; sewage and dead bodies; and garbage in the oceans and in space. Sidebars highlight people and organizations around the world who...

Explains the challenges that face our planet as trash continues to build up, and teaches the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling items in order to reduce the amount of waste produced.

"A galvanizing exposé" of America's trash problem from plastic in the ocean to "wasteful packaging, bogus recycling, and flawed landfills and incinerators" (Booklist, starred review).

Eat a take-out meal, buy a pair of shoes, or read a newspaper, and you're soon faced with a bewildering amount of garbage. The United States is the planet's number-one producer of trash. Each American throws out 4.5 pounds daily. But...

Fly Guy and Buzz visit a landfill to discover where their garbage goes. They learn all about garbage trucks, trash sorting, bacteria, and how landfills can be more environmentally friendly. They also visit a recycling plant to learn about how recycling programs get started, the recycling cycle, and what happens when trash isn't properly disposed of. There are even tips for how readers can help keep our planet healthy! --Publisher's description.