'Everyone's Trash' author gives talk at library March 9

posted on 3/5/2026

Each day, every single person in the United States discards about 5 pounds of waste. From a bottle that gets placed in recycling to a piece of paper crumpled and tossed into the trash, every bit of the daily 1.6 billion pounds has a story to tell.

Duncan Watson shares that story with Dover Public Library in “Everyone’s Trash” on Monday, March 9 at 6 p.m. The event will be held in Room 306 of the McConnell Center.

Watson began his personal trash journey as a pre-teen, working as an attendant at a small municipal recycling center in Northern California. He then spent over 33 years helping to run the city of Keene’s solid waste program, which gained national attention for its solid waste disposal.

A lifelong storyteller, Watson turned his passion for trash into an award-winning book, “Everyone’s Trash: One Man Against 1.6 Billion Pounds”, which tells the hidden world of recycling and refuse by bringing the “dump” to life with vivid characters and humorous anecdotes.

Watson recently retired as assistant director of the Keene Public Works department, but continues to share his insights and vision for the future of waste management, as well as educates others around the state about new methods of recycling and waste disposal. With his talks, he challenges communities to rethink waste, showing that achieving an 80-percent diversion rate from landfills is not only possible but can be accomplished without increasing costs.

Watson grew up in northern California, but found his home in New England, where he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s in Resource Management from Antioch University New England. His debut book “Everyone’s Trash” earned a starred review from Booklist, won the “wildcard” category at the 2024 New England Book Festival and won a 2025 biennial New Hampshire Literary Award for outstanding work of nonfiction from the New Hampshire Writers Project.

Copies of his book will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

For more information about this program, visit the library’s website or call 603-516-6050.