What a Waste

Humans create mountains of garbage, but did you know you can use that waste to help the planet?

You can heat your house with poop, make coffee with filtered pee and blow your nose with your cereal box. People around the world are finding creative ways to transform food scraps, invasive plants and sea creatures into alternative fossil fuels and even plastics. There are cities reusing water and recycling paper, crops, and old clothes to help protect the land, forests and water.

In What a Waste, young readers will learn about cutting-edge projects to reuse and repurpose garbage, and the people behind these innovations. Do you want to become a waste warrior? Don't just talk trash, reuse it!

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Ever since she was a kid, Karen Tam Wu has been an environmental advocate. At the age of 12, after learning about the huge amounts of water and land needed to raise livestock, Karen became vegetarian—and still is. Armed with a degree in forest conservation, Karen has spent many years working to promote and protect healthy ecosystems and the communities that depend on these ecosystems. Nowadays, Karen helps decision makers understand what kinds of programs, laws and technologies leaders around the world are using to reduce carbon pollution and create clean renewable energy. She shares these lessons with community, government and business leaders to encourage them to do the same. Karen lives in Vancouver, where she can smell cedars and the ocean, play in the mountains and ride her bike year-round.

Bithi Sutradhar is a Bangladeshi illustrator and graphic designer who holds a Master of Publishing degree from Simon Fraser University, as well as an MFA and BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Dhaka. Alongside her professional illustration work, Bithi enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills through teaching. Her contributions have been recognized by educational institutions and government bodies such as the Ministry of Agriculture in Bangladesh. Bithi is the illustrator of the first four books in the Orca Take Action series: Allyship as Action, What a Waste, Sticking to the Facts and One Ocean. She lives in Vancouver and loves exploring the vibrant outdoor scenes in her spare time, finding inspiration in the city’s natural beauty.

• Junior Library Guild (JLG) Gold Standard SelectionCommended 2025

Karen Tam Wu is a nature lover, outdoor enthusiast and a climate-policy nerd. For the last decade, Karen has been researching and promoting ways to reduce carbon pollution and use more clean, renewable energy. She works with citizen groups, companies, Indigenous communities and governments to protect healthy ecosystems and the communities that depend on them. Karen lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she can smell cedars and the ocean, play in the mountains and ride her bike year-round. If you see Karen at conferences and meetings, she will likely have a container with her so she can rescue leftover food.

Bithi Sutradhar is a Bangladeshi illustrator and graphic designer who holds a master of publishing degree from Simon Fraser University, as well as an MFA and BFA in graphic design from the University of Dhaka. Alongside her professional illustration work, Bithi enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills through teaching. Her contributions have been recognized by educational institutions and government bodies such as the Ministry of Agriculture in Bangladesh. In 2024, she joined Orca Book Publishers, where she continues to bring stories to life through her illustrations. Bithi lives in Vancouver and loves exploring vibrant outdoor scenes in her spare time, finding inspiration in the city’s natural beauty.