Elizabeth Royte

Elizabeth Royte is an American science and environmental writer known for following ordinary materials into systems that usually remain out of sight. In Garbage Land, she tracks household refuse beyond the bin, visiting landfills, recycling operations, composting projects, and polluted waterways to ask what disposal really means. The reporting connects personal consumption with municipal infrastructure, industrial incentives, and environmental consequences. Royte has also written Bottlemania and The Tapir's Morning Bath. Her essays and journalism have appeared in National Geographic, Harper's, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, Smithsonian, and other publications. Garbage Land was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.