Rubbish: The Archaeology of Garbage, by William Rathje & Cullen Murphy

Retrieved from: my library
0060166037, 1992
Suggested by: my very long list of recommended books
My Ratings: 7 Merit, 8 Interest, 8 Fun

This was a fascinating book, albeit on the older side. The good news is that it has recently been updated by another book, called Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash, which I haven't read (but probably will).

In any case, if you want to know what The Arizona Garbage Project has learned from what we throw away, this book will be a fun read. We throw away a lot of food in this country, whether we want to admit it or not.

And diapers? That bane of landfills is actually not that big of a deal. Actually, the disposable diapers that are thrown away are considerably less than the weight of the paper we casually toss every year. This is an area where I wonder if things have changed a little now that recycling is a little more likely. I hope so; in 1992, most people thought recycling was a fad but now it seems to be mostly an accepted part of life.

Another interesting piece of knowledge: most landfills do not really break down (i.e. degrade) garbage. Hence, 'biodegradable' plastic doesn't work, because it needs air and there is damn little air in a good landfill. Want a yucky example? Workers in he project found in a landfill a steak they estimate had been thrown out several years before, in perfect condition: no bug or animal nibbles, no degrading at all.

The book also includes a concise history of garbage, and why it's a good place to look for information about people. "People" being the generic term, not specific to an individual, although they mention that it's quite good at that too. The things people can find out about you based on your garbage don't bear thinking about!

Now, about that compost pile I keep meaning to start....