Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair

Edward Humes is a journalist who received a Pulitzer Prize for his investigative reporting on the US military in 1989. He has since written 13 non-fiction books on a variety of subjects, including evolution and education, pediatric doctors, juvenile court, and true crime. His book Mississippi Mud was a bestseller. He is a contributing writer for the New York Times, Los Angeles Magazine, Sierra Magazine, and California Lawyer, among other publications.

Bea Johnson lives a virtually waste-free life with her family in a San Francisco suburb. She is a sustainable living blogger and helps families live with less through her company Be Simple. The Johnson family limits purchases and excludes wasteful items. They avoid packaging by shopping at specialized packaging-free stores and fit an entire year’s worth of trash into one mason jar.

Andy Keller formed the company ChicoBag after visiting his local landfill. ChicoBag makes reusable bags to replace single-use plastic bags. Keller created the character of the Bag Monster as part of a public relations and educational campaign to promote sustainability in schools and communities across the US. Keller and ChicoBag were sued by three plastic bag manufacturers in an effort to quiet his criticism of their products.