A gross-out comic with a message: we produce a lot of trash as a country, and because we have so much unused land space, we bury it ineffectually. There was a lot of research and data backing up the reality of the state of solid waste and recycling in the US (with comparisons to other countries, too), and the author did a really good job particularly with demonstrating the sheer enormous scale of trash through visual explainers of landfills, trash compactors, and the like. I knew a fair amount of this before reading, so I’m not necessarily the target audience the trash haulers scorn in the narrative (relatively naïve folks who don’t think about where their trash “disappears” to, or those that through negligence or ignorance make their work harder). I think by this point, people are more aware of waste disposal issues than years past, even if we’ve done very little to curb the overconsumption feeding the issue. 

I most liked learning about the aspects of working as a trash hauler; I’m fascinated by hidden customs and cultures of different jobs, especially overlooked and under-appreciated ones. This was definitely a “this is the way things work and the public doesn’t know”-type story. The characters were funny but there wasn’t a ton of depth to them or the portrayal of their lives. This fictionalized illustration of an amalgamation of real practices and policies is more about the message than the individuals it depicts.