Elizabeth Royte Visits Manhattan College: Acclaimed Author Discusses Garbage Land and Environmental Issues
Bobby Rice
Issue date: 11/29/06 Section: Features
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Elizabeth Royte, author of Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, held a lecture based on her book on Thursday, November 9 in Smith Auditorium. Royte reiterated her work's main points and statistical facts but placed less emphasis on her research of garbage or her writing process.
After Royte took the podium and began her introduction, she graciously dedicated her appearance at Manhattan College to the freshman class, citing that every freshman had read her book knowing it was required reading for all freshman English classes.
Royte began her lecture by explaining that her idea for writing the book came one day while she was canoeing down the Guanos Canal with her daughter. She began finding garbage floating in the water and continued paddling until she came across human feces floating by.
It was not until she witnessed how bad the garbage situation was in New York that she wanted to investigate how society disposes its garbage and why America cannot control the amount of garbage disposed in dumps and landfills.
Royte was successful in giving her readers additional information about how she wrote the book, and she focused on issues beyond improving the environment. However, she only mentioned additional background information about her writing process on a few occasions.
Royte connected with students by providing ideas about how to improve the environment through recycling and monitoring garbage. She gave examples of recycling beer bottles and reusing their printing paper.
Royte, however, had a difficult audience to reach out to. Many students were assigned to attend the lecture and read her book involuntarily, and some could not appreciate or relate her points. Yet many professors and students jotted down notes as Royte spoke.
The students sincerely interested in Royte and her writing process were given the opportunity to ask what they wanted to know when she opened the floor to questions.
One student question that provoked an intriguing answer from Royte was based on a point she touched on briefly about transfer stations in low income neighborhoods. Royte said that "All transfer stations in New York are located in low income and colored communities."
After Royte took the podium and began her introduction, she graciously dedicated her appearance at Manhattan College to the freshman class, citing that every freshman had read her book knowing it was required reading for all freshman English classes.
Royte began her lecture by explaining that her idea for writing the book came one day while she was canoeing down the Guanos Canal with her daughter. She began finding garbage floating in the water and continued paddling until she came across human feces floating by.
It was not until she witnessed how bad the garbage situation was in New York that she wanted to investigate how society disposes its garbage and why America cannot control the amount of garbage disposed in dumps and landfills.
Royte was successful in giving her readers additional information about how she wrote the book, and she focused on issues beyond improving the environment. However, she only mentioned additional background information about her writing process on a few occasions.
Royte connected with students by providing ideas about how to improve the environment through recycling and monitoring garbage. She gave examples of recycling beer bottles and reusing their printing paper.
Royte, however, had a difficult audience to reach out to. Many students were assigned to attend the lecture and read her book involuntarily, and some could not appreciate or relate her points. Yet many professors and students jotted down notes as Royte spoke.
The students sincerely interested in Royte and her writing process were given the opportunity to ask what they wanted to know when she opened the floor to questions.
One student question that provoked an intriguing answer from Royte was based on a point she touched on briefly about transfer stations in low income neighborhoods. Royte said that "All transfer stations in New York are located in low income and colored communities."