"With a new afterword"---Cover. Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-314) and index.

This narrative science book about trash digs through our epic piles of trash to reveal not just what we throw away, but who we are and where our society is headed. The real secret at the heart of this book may well be the potential for a happy ending buried in our landfill. Waste is the one environmental and economic harm that ordinary working Americans have the power to change and prosper in the process. Introduction: 102 tons, (or: becoming China's trash compactor) -- Part 1. The biggest thing we make. Ain't no mountain high enough ; Piggeries and burn piles : an American trash genesis ; From trash TV to landfill rodeos ; The last and future kingdom ; Down to the sea in chips ; Nerds vs. nurdles -- Part 2. The trash detectives. The trash trackers ; Decadence now -- Part 3. The way back. Pick of the litter ; Chico and the man ; Green cities and garbage death rays ; Put-downs, pickups and the power of no -- Epilogue: Garbage in, garbage out -- Afterword.