User:Sdexter/Garbology


 * For uses of this term in reference to espionage or identity theft, see Dumpster diving

The primary academic meaning of garbology is the study of refuse and trash. It is an academic discipline and has an outpost at the University of Arizona long directed by William Rathje. The project started in 1973, originating from an idea of two students for a class project. It is a major source of information on the nature and changing patterns in modern refuse. Industries wishing to demonstrate that discards originating with their products are (or are not) important in the trash stream are avid followers of this research, as are municipalities wishing to learn whether some parts of the trash they collect has any salable value. The term 'garbology' is also used as an amusing term for the 'science' of waste management, with refuse workers called 'garbologists'.A. J. Weberman claims to have invented the word "garbology" to describe his study of Bob Dylan's garbage in 1970, but according to the Oxford English Dictionary, it was first used by waste collectors in the 1960s.

The studies of garbology and archaeology often overlap, because fossilized or otherwise time-modified trash is quite often the only remnant of ancient populations that can be found. For those who did not leave buildings, writing, tombs, trade goods, or pottery, refuse and trash are likely to be the only possible sources of information. In addition, ancient garbage sometimes contains information available in no other way, such as food remains, pollen traces of then local plants, and broken tools.

The Garbology Project
William Rathje's start of his garbology excavations began in 1987. Rathje was hoping to find more information how what the landfills contained as well as to examine how garbage reacts in its environment. During the time that Rathje was starting his projects many misconceptions began and the nation became more conscious of what they were throwing away. Many Americans started thinking the landfills were filled with their "most commonly used items"; fast food containers, disposable diapers, and Styrofoam. Rathje thinks this assumption derives from the fact that these items are often the most colorful and easy to spot. The industrial trash was not correctly acounted for before Rathje's project. According to charts before Rathje the amount of building material in the land fills was Zero.

Projects Findings
He started by surveying different areas of the country to better understand what types of garbage survives under different climates. He found there was little difference between the sites because the garbage is compacted. The California landfill's did have less paper than those in Illinois. Recycling is thought to be the cause of the paper difference between states. Rathje's research uncovered some other misconceptions about landfills. In particular, it was revealed that the rate of natural biodegradation is far slower than had been assumed (e.g., in capacity planning). It was found that the plastic bottles that were crushed at the top were able to be re-inflated easier than those that were at the bottom because of a new system of bottle making called light-weighting. This is the process of using less plastic in bottles to conserve material and save money. Light-weighting is not limited to plastic alone this process is used for aluminum and paper as well. Rathje also found that Americans were wrong about what they thought they threw away most. Combined the three most infamous trashes, diapers, fast food containers, and Styrophome, amounted to less than three percent of the landfills waste. Rathje found that plastic was 20-24 percent of waste and paper alone was 40 percent of the waste found in landfills. Thirteen percent of this paper waste was from newspapers. Rathje states the irony of this fact in his book. He talks about how newspapers are usually the ones that report things such as waste and pollution and it is these same newspapers clogging the landfills. Rathje discusses the rate of closing landfills and how for every six small landfills closed one large landfill opens. At the time he published his book he preditced that in the next five years 50 percent of the landfill's open at the time would close. He determined this off his findings. In an effort for states to prevent their area becoming a large landfill often times states ship their trash to other states. States such as Michigan are taking measures to prevent their state from being the landing spot for the nations trash. Michigan has found that in the past years most of their rise in trash rates are because of trash imports from Canada.

Present Garbology
Garbology today is used to assess waste and figure new ideas for waste management. Scientists are currently studying trash in the Pacific Ocean of the plastic that has become a floating mass. This ocean problem is twice the size of texas. The scientists question and study the effect of the trash on the marine life, and how to solve the rising problem. Another current study is the process of changing waste into energy. As both become a rising problem the methaine in landfills has the potential to be used to generate small amounts of electricity. .

Investigations in Garbology
Another use of garbology is as an investigative tool of law enforcement, corporate espionage, or other types of investigations. This not only includes physical sorting of papers from a rubbish bin but also analysis of files found in a computer's recycle bin. The FBI ran "trash covers" against various organizations deemed subversive in the early 1950s. The special intelligence services have also used garbology to combat crime. In some countries garbology is illegal unless it is being used by the country's intelligence services. However journalists continue to use it to investigate the stories they produce.