Edward Humes

Edward Humes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of 17 nonfiction books, including his latest, Total Garbage: How We Can Fix Our Waste and Heal Our Word. In addition to Sierra, Humes has written for Alta, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and other publications. Follow him on X @edwardhumes and at www.edwardhumes.com.

ExxonMobil Lied About Plastics Recycling, Lawsuits Claim

The State of California and environmental groups including the Sierra Club say the petrochemical giant always knew recycling wouldn’t work

By Edward Humes September 24, 2024

In this story: plastic, recycling, toxics, oil, sustainability

Photo by Bill Varie/Getty Images

Shifting the Costs of Recycling to Manufacturers, Not Consumers

A "trash nerd" gets Maine to fundamentally flip the incentives for recycling

By Edward Humes June 18, 2022

In this story: recycling

Workers in Portland Maine sort paper at Ecomaine recycling plant to remove contaminated recycling from the waste stream.

Spinning the Bottle

California’s landmark recycling system is in crisis

By Edward Humes March 7, 2022

In this story: recycling

filename

Chefs Turn Off the Gas and Light Up Induction Cooktops

Electric induction stoves offer clean, efficient, and incredibly fast cooking without the methane gas

By Edward Humes March 30, 2022

In this story: building electrification, natural gas, clean energy, methane

filename

Plastic Bottlers Are Lying About Recycling

“100% recyclable”? In your dreams, Coca-Cola.

By Edward Humes June 25, 2021

In this story: recycling, plastic, advancement

filename

Plastic Bottlers Are Lying About Recycling

“100% recyclable”? In your dreams, Coca-Cola.

By Edward Humes June 25, 2021

In this story: recycling, plastic

filename

Zeroing Out Zero Waste

A conversation with David Allaway, recycling heretic

By Edward Humes June 26, 2019

In this story: recycling

filename

The US Recycling System Is Garbage

China doesn't want our crap anymore, and who can blame them?

By Edward Humes June 26, 2019

In this story: recycling

The US Recycling System Is Garbage

Stop Obsessing About Recycling

Recyclability is cool, but it's not always that important

By Edward Humes June 26, 2019

In this story: recycling

A warehouse with stacked bales of recycling in Brooklyn, New York.

Volkswagen's Cheating Scandal Could Have a Silver Lining

$4.7 billion could transform our transportation system

By Edward Humes August 29, 2018

In this story: electric vehicles, clean energy

A desert graveyard near Victorville, California, holds some of the 350,000 Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars that VW bought back from customers for $7.4 billion.