Trash Talk

North Americans are overwhelmed by the immense environmental problems our world faces yet studies report that 66% would do more if they knew it had a measurable impact. Psychologists have long known that simply performing one small step will aid in defining a positive outlook on life and will inspire further participation from the individual.Trash Talk is about changing people's mind-sets by providing thought-provoking ideas that inspire readers to participate from the ground level in their waste reduction efforts. All the ideas are relatively simple and do not require any special skills or tools.

Humans have always generated garbage, whether it’s a chewed-on bone or a broken cell phone. Our landfills are overflowing, but with some creative thinking, stuff we once threw away can become a collection of valuable resources just waiting to be harvested. Trash Talk digs deep into the history of garbage, from Minoan trash pits to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and uncovers some of the many innovative ways people all over the world are dealing with waste.

Absorbing, entertaining and keenly perceptive, Talking Trash illuminates the complex viewer response to daytime television talk shows and examines the cultural politics surrounding this wildly controversial popular phenomenon.

Six girls and guys are invited to be part of a reality television program in New York but the real drama goes on behind the cameras.

A lively investigation of the intimate connections we maintain with the things we toss away It's hard to think of trash as anything but a growing menace. Our communities face crises over what to do with the mountains of rubbish we produce, the enormous amount of biological waste generated by humans and animals, and the truckloads of electronic equipment judged to be obsolete. All this effluvia poses widespread problems for human health, the well-being of the planet, and the quality of our lives. But though our notorious habits of disposal have put us well on the way to making the earth inhospitable to life, our relation to rejectamenta includes much more than shedding and tossing. In Trash Talks, philosopher Elizabeth V. Spelman explores the extent to which we rely on trash and waste to make sense of our lives. Examples are rich: We use people's rubbish to gain information about them. We trumpet wastefulness as a means of signaling social status. We take the occupation of handling trash and garbage as revelatory of possible moral or spiritual shortcomings. We are intrigued by or in distress over the idea that evolution is a prodigiously wasteful process and that it is to the dustbin that each of us, and our species, shall ultimately repair. In the heaps of our trash, some see consequences of dissatisfaction, while others find confirmation of a flourishing consumer economy. While we may want to shove debris and detritus out of sight, many of our most impassioned projects involve keeping these objects resolutely in mind. Trash talks, and there is much of which it speaks.

“You’re mad at me, but I am killing you.”—NBA star Gary Payton “Find the hate.”—NFL star Warren Sapp “Why can’t you be more like Rafi Kohan?”—your mom, probably Whether in basketball, football, or MMA, athletes talk trash to each other—and sometimes to fans—like it’s their job. And in some ways, it is: sports only matter if we decide to care about them. And insulting your opponent, or playing the heel, is probably the fastest route to making someone care. Talking smack is as old as the bible; it’s perhaps the original sport. But until now, there’s never been a book about it. In this lively, often hilarious history, Rafi Kohan interviews some of the world’s top competitors—on the petty rivalries and mind games that fuel them. He talks to point guards and soccer strikers, cricketers and insult comedians, forming a theory along the way about the surprising and influential role that name-calling plays in our world. Brilliantly original and wide-ranging, Trash Talk is a book for sports fans, culture mavens, or anyone looking to get an edge.

Your game plan for career success—from International Basketball Pro Dre Baldwin No one knows how to turn unrelenting self-belief into hard-and-fast career results better than Dre Baldwin. When everyone and everything was telling him to give up on his goal of playing pro basketball, he got focused on his future, and met the challenge head on. In the end, Baldwin succeeded—making a living playing basketball in leagues around the world—and in these pages, he shares all his secrets. Whether you’re just starting out in business or looking to take your career to the next level, Work On Your Game provides the strategy you need to succeed from the inside-out. Dre Baldwin, or “DreAllDay,” as his fans know him, delivers an easy-to-understand four-part model for achieving any goal. It’s based on discipline, confidence, mental toughness, and personal initiative—and it’s proven effective. Baldwin takes you through the steps of identifying what’s expected of you, preparing for what's coming, and conditioning your body and mind for the competitive world of business—and everything is a business. Baldwin’s personal story of beating the odds is both inspiring and instructional. You’ll learn how to play the mental game in a way that launches you towards unparalleled achievement.

A reference for public health and waste issues worldwide, examining garbage disposal from the history of waste management, to the rise of green movements and recycling programs, to environmental problems caused by overflowing landfills and incineration.

Provocative writing about the stunning variety of contemporary litter, its meanings, and its artistic possibilities, profusely illustrated with 163 color images

Choice words from some of the biggest trash talkers out there - not just from the world of sport, but also from politics and entertainment.