“They should think about the Earth because what’s good for the environment is good for the people of Earth!” — Phred, Waste Invaders, Part 2, p. 8.
| Creator(s) | Joey Weiser (author) |
| Publisher | Think Earth Environmental Education Foundation |
| Publication Date | 2018 |
| Genre | Educational, Science Fiction, Fiction |
| Environmental Themes and Issues | Pollution, Recycling, Animals in Danger, Sustainable Living, Consumerism, Habitat Destruction |
| Protagonist’s Identity | Eeko: Male alien (Nonhuman / Fantasy Creature) |
| Protagonist’s Level of Environmental Agency | Level 4: Considerable Environmental Agency without Activism |
| Target Audience | Children |
| Settings | Earth |
Environmental Themes
Waste Invaders is a free, 16-page educational comic produced by Joey Weiser for the Think Earth Environmental Education Foundation. The comic features two tiny aliens, Phred and Eeko, who travel to Earth to study its inhabitants. They discover that human activities have produced immense amounts of waste, including trash and wastewater. While humans have created systems to deal with the waste, Eeko observes that these systems don’t truly eliminate the waste. He highlights three significant environmental issues caused by this waste: trash and wastewater pollute the environment, including the air and water; humans are wasting the planet’s natural resources; and disposing of waste costs energy and money. Phred asks, “So… are the Earthlings doomed?” (Weiser, Part 2, 4). In response, Eeko identifies potential solutions to waste, including taking steps to reduce the amount of trash that humans produce and using water in more environmentally-conscious ways. For instance, people can buy products with less packaging, use reusable containers, recycle, take shorter showers, only wash full loads of clothing, and reuse products instead of throwing them away. Eeko concludes, “It’s easy… People just to have balance their needs… with the needs of the environment” (Weiser, Part 2, 8). While the comic proposes individual steps that young readers can undertake to combat waste, it does not advocate for large-scale political action. The narrative also does not explicitly address the corporations and systemic issues contributing to pollution and wastewater, such as the fossil fuel industry and the lack of viable recycling facilities in all areas.
Free PDFs of the comic are available online: Part 1 and Part 2. The Think Earth curriculum also includes the short comic Pollution is for the Birds.
