Trash deals with humans close to despair, but its tone is a comic one. Joe's problem is impotence, the result of his addiction to heroin. This film traces the various attempts made to revivify his drooping manhood and to rid him of his craving for artificial stimulation. Geri, a stripper, goes through an elaborate ritual, but to no avail. Holly, a drag queen, is Joe's room-mate, who encourages him to collect junk for their pad as a means of distracting him from his devotion to drugs. Candy Darling tries to persuade him to share the LSD she is sure he has, but of course she fails. A young wife offers him the prospect of rape as he half-heartedly attempts to burgle her apartment, but she is rejected.