It's a collection of factoids about garbage, trash, pollution and how it's destroying the planet. It also talks about recycling and how kids can get involved in working toward a world with less trash.
It's a very typical National Geographic book with lots of eye-popping bright colors, short, quick facts, and crazy layouts. It includes quizzes, activities, and short biographies of activists and scientists who are involved in trying to deal with trash and recycling.
So, ultimately it's just fine for something to breeze through for quick ideas, to get kids started on researching trash and pollution, or for browsing. But there were a couple reasons this didn't really click with what I needed. It's very surface - there's no in-depth exploration of the varying types of recycling and the arguments about how they work and which is better. All of the tips and suggestions are heavily tilted towards a suburban, middle class audience. The activities also didn't encourage readers to think below the surface. The section that suggests kids have a clean up day...suggests printing and hanging flyers. There's no mention of picking them up afterwards either! Kind of defeats the purpose there... It assumes every kid lives in a house with a backyard and the ability to start a compost pile - what about all the kids in apartments or urban areas? The book is heavy on suggesting cutting back on paper and using reusable bags, washrags, and napkins but there's no discussion of the environmental impact of washing machines (heavy). The section on upcycling suggests decorating a container with wrapping paper, which is not recyclable.
Is this a bad book? No. It doesn't suggest or do anything very different from any other kids' recycling book. It's a perfectly good surface introduction and kids will enjoy the bite-sized facts. I was just looking for more and this book did not provide it.
Verdict: If you're looking to bulk out your recycling/environmental section this is an additional purchase.
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