Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage

For the past 20 years the U. of Arizona's Garbage Project has sifted, sorted, and classified a quarter of a million pounds of garbage. Rathje, the director of the Garbage Project, and Murphy, managing editor of The Atlantic monthly , tell us what our garbage tells about us. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

YA-- "Truth in garbage" might well be an appropriate subtitle for this in-depth examination of how garbage reflects the society that tosses it. Based on the findings of the Garbage Project at the University of Arizona, Rathje and Murphy's book seeks to dispel current myths while enlightening readers about American society from this unique perspective. They give a historical overview of what the human species has been doing with its refuse since hunter-gatherer times: dumping, burning, recycling, or reducing the amount of potentially discardable stuff. Subsequent sections explain how we unconsciously tell the truth about our lifestyles by what we throw away. Interesting information abounds. The last chapter urges readers to observe a "Ten Commandments" of consumption and disposal, which is based not on what "we think we know" but on what data from studies like this one reveal.
- Carolyn E. Gecan, Thomas Jefferson Sci-Tech, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

One of the central tenets of the University of Arizona's Garbage Project is that "what people have owned--and thrown away--can speak more eloquently, informatively, and truthfully about the lives they lead than they themselves ever may." Project garbologists have alchemized more than 250,000 pounds of refuse--from landfills and from trash cans in selected neighborhoods--into a treasure trove for experts in marketing and consumer research, census studies and environmentalism. Garbologists have determined that people waste three times more beef when the meat is in short supply than when it is plentiful; that many women use birth-control pills incorrectly; and that lower-income families consistently buy small-size, brand-name products rather than cheaper generic ones. Erudite and witty cultural tour guides, Rathje, an archeologist and anthropologist who directs the Project, and Atlantic managing editor Murphy claim that our garbage problems are solvable; that, with proper safeguards, incineration may be a viable option in some communities; and that paper--not disposable diapers or fast-food packaging--is a chief culprit in overloading landfills. Illustrated. First serial to Smithsonian; BOMC and QPB alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Twenty years ago, Rathje founded the Univ. of Arizona's Garbage Project, a program in which students sample, sort, and tabulate the awful offal collected from selected households, landfills, and other repositories of garbage, making comparisons on the basis of time, social class, and other variables. Here, he and Murphy, managing editor of The Atlantic, cull from the record astonishing data to counter many a myth. ``We do not necessarily know many things that we think we know,'' the authors cannily remark. Item: We are about to be buried in a sea of plastics. Not so, say Rathje and Murphy; compacted in a landfill, plastic represents 16 percent of the volume. Paper, on the other hand, represents over 40 percent; food and yard waste 7 percent; construction debris 12 percent. Item: These are the worst of times. No, garbage disposal has plagued all cultures, everywhere. Just think of the hundreds of thousands of dead horses that had to be disposed of before automobiles came along. The authors speak knowingly of the ancient Maya, lavish wasters at the time of their cultural ascendancy, frugal recyclers when the end was near. There's even a whole chapter on disposable diapers that should reassure many a guilt-ridden parent. And the point is that there are things that can be done to reduce the burden: no single magic-bullet approach, but wise use of a variety of approaches, including sanitary landfills, recycling, incineration, and ``source reduction.'' Do not provide consumers with large garbage containers (which automatically become filled in accord with Parkinson's Law), but do charge consumers by the volume of nonrecyclable trash. And so on and on--in a refreshing treatment of a subject not usually associated with refreshment. (Line drawings throughout.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This exceptional book encompasses much more than the archaeology of garbage, a fascinating topic in itself. Rathje, director of the University of Arizona's Garbage Project, leads the reader through 20 years of the project's research on recycling, landfills, garbage disposal technologies, and the so-called "garbage crisis." Along the way, he clarifies common misconceptions, including the merits of cloth versus disposable diapers and the limits of biodegradation in landfills. The result is a very accessible and entertaining book that never descends into academic gobbledygook or self-righteous environmentalism. The focus on the popular audience leads to the book's one shortcoming--it lacks a bibliography. Nevertheless, no library should throw away the chance to acquire this fine discussion of the way we relate to our refuse.
- Eric Hinsdale, Simmons Coll. Graduate Sch. of Management Lib., Boston
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.