Rubbish!: The Archaeology of GarbageIt is from the discards of former civilizations that archaeologists have reconstructed most of what we know about the past, and it is through their examination of today's garbage that William Rathje and Cullen Murphy inform us of our present. Rubbish! is their witty and erudite investigation into all aspects of the phenomenon of garbage. Rathje and Murphy show what the study of garbage tells us about a population's demographics and buying habits. Along the way, they dispel the common myths about our "garbage crisis"Ņabout fast-food packaging and disposable diapers, about biodegradable garbage and the acceleration of the average family's garbage output. They also suggest methods for dealing with the garbage we do have. |
Contents
PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION | 11 |
Yes Wonderful Things 3 | 11 |
Garbage and History | 30 |
What We Say What We Do | 53 |
PART 11 | 62 |
Into the Unknown | 81 |
The Myths of Biodegradation | 110 |
A Garbage Census? | 133 |
The Diaper Dilemma | 151 |
PART IV | 157 |
The Technological Fix | 171 |
Closing the Loop | 188 |
Lifestyle Override | 214 |
The Ten Commandments | 234 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
aluminum American appliances archaeological archaeologists artifacts average bage bags beer behavior biodegradation bottle bills Census cloth diapers collected communities composting consumers consumption containers course cups decades discarded disposable diapers dumps estimate example fact fast-food packaging feet Figure food waste fresh garbage Fresh Kills Fresh Kills landfill garbage disposal garbage problems Garbage Project Garbage Project researchers Garbage Project study garbology glass hazardous waste household garbage incinerators industry involved kinds of garbage landfill's leachate litter material McDonald's meat metal methane Mexico million municipal solid waste neighborhoods newspapers operations organic paper patterns percent pickup plastic pounds Procter & Gamble pull tabs recycling recycling programs relatively result samples sanitary landfills sanitation scavenging scrap SEMASS solid-waste stream sort sorters source reduction things thrown tion toxic trash trucks Tucson turn typical United University of Arizona volume waste-to-energy weight yard waste York