In Adam Minter's Junyard Planet, Minter explores the unknown world of recycling and scrap trading. Junkyard Planet documents Minter’s onsite observations in both the United States and China as well as shares his own personal experiences and knowledge. The scrap trading industry is more than a mere topic of interest for Minter, as he grew up learning about the scrap business alongside his father and grandmother. As a overseas journalist for the Bloomberg View, Minter is able to observe and describe the scrap trade around the world on varying levels. Minter takes readers on a tour of the recycling process that impacts people’s daily lives and opens the door to something people often don’t think about. Minter highlights the good fortune of those who have made it big in the scrap trade as well as revealed the grime that comes with trading trash. Ultimately, the extensive exploration into the scrap industry sheds light on the lesser known global recycling industry and redefines “reduce, reuse, recycle” with a deeper meaning.
Most Americans throw away their recyclables into their blue and green bins, not giving any second thought about where they go. I, admittedly, was a mindless recycler until I read Junkyard Planet. The impact that recycling has on my daily life was not something I thought about often until Adam Minter had …show more content…
The industry flourished so much that they developed a universal language for trading scrap metal pieces. Minter’s accounts of his father trading “honey” and “barley” were strange to my foreign ears, but it was impressive to me how they could with ease communicate so much information in single, seemingly random words. Minter also recounted Chinese scrap traders using the same terms as American scrap traders. The evolution of the language fascinated me because it’s prime example of how truly large and developed the recycling and scrap trade
Most Americans throw away their recyclables into their blue and green bins, not giving any second thought about where they go. I, admittedly, was a mindless recycler until I read Junkyard Planet. The impact that recycling has on my daily life was not something I thought about often until Adam Minter had …show more content…
The industry flourished so much that they developed a universal language for trading scrap metal pieces. Minter’s accounts of his father trading “honey” and “barley” were strange to my foreign ears, but it was impressive to me how they could with ease communicate so much information in single, seemingly random words. Minter also recounted Chinese scrap traders using the same terms as American scrap traders. The evolution of the language fascinated me because it’s prime example of how truly large and developed the recycling and scrap trade