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| Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage | 
| Authors: William Rathje, Cullen Murphy
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $7.98
You Save: $9.97 (56%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 148557
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 263
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 0816521433
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.728097471
EAN: 9780816521432
ASIN: 0816521433
Publication Date: March 1, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Pristine condition. No remainder mark.
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Product Description
It 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"—about 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
No Rubbish! June 15, 2008
Rathje's and Murphy's RUBBISH! is insightful and engaging. Their anecdotes about the ironies of environmental movements rallying behind particular causes (like McDonald's styrofoam clam shells), and their analyses of popular misconceptions about waste provide, great food for thought for policy makers and for environmentally-minded individuals concerned about the problems with waste and its disposal. Along the way, the authors demonstrate the utility of archaeological knowledge for dealing with current social challenges. This book is a really great read!
A Classic May 26, 2008
Great book. Rathje is a engaging figure that delivers a good story - the story of our garbage.
Highly recommended.
Garbage Holds Its Treasures March 1, 2008
I never thought reading about garbage would be interesting - well, okay, actually I did, otherwise I would have never read this book. I mean that I didn't suspect the book would be so darn interesting. Garbage really sheds a strong light on the culture that generates it. Just think, your garbage tells us a lot about who you are. Future archaeologists are going to love digging through our old garbage in a few thousand years. Oh, what a story it will tell.
What Our Rubbish Says About Us August 19, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is an overview of the University of Arizona's continuing trash sorting project started in 1972 to document the lifestyle habits of the American public through observing what we eat, what we use in household goods, etc., and then throw out. Socio, political and economic behaviors become evident while recording the fascinating finds in daily trash digging, probing, and quantifying.
This project also included studies at the now closed Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island in New York City where holes were bored all the way to the bottom of the fill and where the studies then took on a more ominous dimension of environmental impact discoveries such as: that the breakdown of trash, even over years, is a myth. The research showed that there is little biodegradation occurring due to compaction and lack of bacterial decomposition, so the researchers found completely intact and recognizable items from food to readable newsprint- even at the bottom of the heap where it was at least 50 years old- same type discoveries of intact trash heaps discovered in ancient Rome, Greece, etc.
Most distressing of the discoveries in the landfill was the discovery of the huge quantity of "leachate"- a toxic liquid stew, that is leaking at the rate of a million gallons a day into New York Harbor.
The book concludes with recommendations on alternatives to landfill as a means to dispose of trash plus recycling and lifestyle changes.
For another enlightening read on all things trash, there is Elizabeth Royte's "Garbage Land"- a personal story of discovery of what her family's trash footprint is and where everything including recyclables ends up- a real eye-opener and an entertaining read!
 There is a link between owning a cat and reading "The National Enquirer"! June 27, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
"Rubbish" is a highly academic book about "The Garbage Project" at the University of Arizona's Anthropology Department. The main idea behind "The Garbage Project" is to gain information about society by analyzing garbage patterns in various locations.
Despite being a book about garbage, the contents of the book are quite diverse. The book is divided into 4 parts. The first section, An Introduction to the Garbage Project, gives the background of "The Garbage Project", why it started, what they do, and what they hope to accomplish. This section also discusses how anthropologists use garbage to learn about ancient civilizations. The second section, The Landfill Excavations, discuss the basic theories of landfills, how the team takes samples from landfills, and discusses why biodegradation does not work in landfills. The third section, Interlude: Diapers and Demographics, I found to be highly entertaining. This section has a fascinating chapter on estimating the population of a neighborhood (as well as sex and age) based on the garbage collected from this neighborhood (a study done to initially help the Census Bureau). This section is also filled with useless information such as "There is a link between owning a cat and reading "The National Enquirer"". There is also a detailed discussion about disposable diapers in landfills. The final section, Garbage and the Future, was the most educational by far. This part discusses the serious shortcomings of citywide recycling programs and side effects people never hear about. There are also discussions on alternate garbage disposal methods, such as high tech incinerators used to generate electricity, as well as several other attempts at using technology to turn garbage into a useful product. The section and the book end with a chapter on reducing and addressing garbage disposal.
I think this book will not be for everyone. The book reads like a Master's Thesis at times, rather long and seems to ramble. However, some parts of the book are exceptional (such as the chapter on recycling or "Closing the Loop") and are really an eye opener.
I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in Environmental Sciences. Also, if you can manage to wade through pages of various scientific theories and facts, I'd highly recommend picking this book up! While a little slow reading at times, it is quite informative and I think a real eye opener.
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Wildlife, nature and the Environment
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