Metro’s Let's Talk Trash series continues with two discussions featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Humes and his 2012 book, "Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash".
Each American, on average, generates 102 tons of trash in a lifetime. That garbage has impacts on our planet and our communities. Much of that garbage ends up in landfills that take many years to fill and many more years to manage responsibly. And our garbage often takes interesting journeys to get to those destinations.
"Garbology" discusses what goes into our trash, how valuable the materials are that we throw away, the effects our garbage can have on our planet, and how we can get more out of the garbage we generate and produce less garbage to begin with. The book includes a chapter focused on the Portland metro area’s efforts to become a more sustainable region and how our efforts compare with efforts of other metropolitan areas.
Humes will be in Portland on July 10 and 11 to engage audiences in discussions about the themes and issues presented in his book at two events:
- On Thursday, July 10, Humes will be hosted by Portland State University’s Institute for Sustainable Solutions at a discussion to be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at Hoffmann Hall at PSU, 1833 SW 11th Ave.
- On Friday, July 11, Humes will be the featured speaker at City Club of Portland’s Friday Forum. The event will be held at the Sentinel Hotel, 614 SW 11th Ave. Doors open at 11:30 a.m. The program will begin at 12:15 p.m. and end at 1:15 p.m.
These events are part of Metro’s Let’s Talk Trash series designed to engage you in long-term discussions about where our garbage goes and how the region can best manage its garbage in the future.
Check out "Garbology" at one of the region's public libraries: