Basic HTML Version
WhatYour
GARBAGE
Reveals
About You!
by
Keith W. Stump
A look inside you r own trash can will reveal much about the way
you live- and about a growing problem in
Western society. Here's what you can do about it.
Y
OU
CAN
lea rn
a
great dea l
abou
t
a society by
studying its gar–
bage.
1n fact, an entire
science is devoted
to that vcry endeav–
or- archacology.
Archaeologists dig
through thc trash and
debris of ancient civi–
lizations. By analyz–
ing the refuse and
rubble o f ant iquity
they gain val ua ble
insights into past so–
cieties.
The same tec h–
niques can be em–
ployed in the study of
society today.
Sorne high school
instructors have be–
gun organizing field
trips for their stu–
dcnts to local dump–
ing grounds. Armed
with picks and shcw–
cls, the students ex–
amine for themselves
thc cast-off effiuence
of our affiuent socie–
ty- and the ecologi–
cal conscquences of
it.
Even sorne univer–
sities are now offering
classes in "garbolo–
gy," thc study of gar–
bage. One professor
describes garbology
i
as "applied archaeolo–
~
gy"- using archaeo–
~
logical techniques to
E
solve a growing prob-
, 1
.
~
em
10
contemporary
Garbage is the
product
of our way
~
society.
W:::~~=.!'::~.i:::2:::.!!!~:2~~::.;:::::li~~~~~::::::!~::::::=wa:J ~
Students sort me-
of life.
lt
is a mirror of society.
lt
can tell us much about the
way we live. And the story it
tells is a shocking commentary
on modero, affluent Western
society!
Augusl.1981
The Effluence o f Affluence
The city dump probably has more
to tell us about our modero civili–
zation than any l i brary or
museum.
ticulously through people's trash,
list ing in notebooks what they
find and then analyzing the data
and writing reports. They operate
on the premise that a person, in a
sense,
is
what he throws away.
lt
7