Rogers, Heather 1970–

PERSONAL: Born 1970.

ADDRESSES: Home—Brooklyn, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, New Press, 38 Greene St., New York, NY 10013. E-mail—hrogers@gonetomorrow.org.

CAREER: Writer, journalist, and movie director. Contributor to Nation.

WRITINGS:

Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, New Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Also writer of the documentary film Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, 2002; articles have appeared in numerous periodicals, including the Utne Reader, Z, Brooklyn Rail, Bad Subjects, Punk Planet, Third Text, and Art and Design.

SIDELIGHTS: Heather Rogers is a journalist and documentary filmmaker who made the film Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage in 2002 and wrote a book with the same title published in 2005. In the more extensive book, Rogers presents a look at the seven hundred billion pounds of garbage produced by Americans each year, how it has been disposed of, and options for the future. She also reveals a period when the New York City garbage industry was controlled by organized crime and provides an in-depth historical look at industry practices following World War II that led to "planned obsolescence" and consumer waste.

In an interview with Aaron Sarver for the In These Times Web site, Rogers noted, "Garbage is this substance through which we can make connections between larger environmental crises and our daily lives, something that is often hard to do because those larger crises are really abstract." The author also told Sarver that there are options for the future that she writes about in the book. "Now, there is this rise of green capitalism," commented Rogers. "Aspects of it are positive and very agreeable. We need to be able to reuse the commodities that we make and sell over and over again. And we need to re-design the production process. All of that is right on track. But green capitalists say that all these things can happen voluntarily, that when companies become aware of the damage they're doing, eventually they'll start making the right choice."

Irwin Weintraub, writing in Library Journal, called Gone Tomorrow a "readable and well-researched study" that looks at "the social, economic, political, and technological waste disposal choices and dilemmas that our communities face." Booklist contributor Donna Seaman noted that the author "presents a galvanizing expose of how we became the planet's trash monsters."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 15, 2005, Donna Seaman, review of Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage, p. 9.

Library Journal, October 15, 2005, Irwin Weintraub, review of Gone Tomorrow, p. 78.

Reference & Research Book News, November, 2005, review of Gone Tomorrow.

ONLINE

Agony Column Book Reviews and Commentary, http://trashotron.com/agony/ (March 25, 2006), "A Conversation with Heather Rogers."

Gone Tomorrow Web site, http://www.gonetomorrow.org (March 25, 2006).

In These Times, http://www.inthesetimes.com/ (March 25, 2006), Aaron Sarver, "Talking Trash," interview with author.

Laughing Squid, http://www.laughingsquid.com/ (March 25, 2006), "Heather Rogers—Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage," announcement of author speaking engagement.