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William Rathje
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Rubbish!: The Archaeology of Garbage Paperback – March 1, 2001

by William Rathje (Author), Cullen Murphy (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 82 ratings
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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 that we do have.
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  1. Print length
    280 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    University of Arizona Press
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 2001
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0816521433
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0816521432
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A lucid and provocative book.”—New York Times Book Review

 “A mother lode of valuable information . . . There ain’t no flies on this book.”—Wall Street Journal

“[Rubbish!] demolishes myths that hamper our ability to act sensibly; as a nice bonus, it entertains as it goes about its business.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Readers will be impressed by Rathje and Murphy’s delightfully fresh take on the human foibles and the garbage heaps of history.”—Washington Post Book World

“An almost joyous iconoclasm about a vexatious subject.”—Boston Sunday Globe

“[Rathje and Murphy] cull from the record astonishing data to counter many a myth. . . . A refreshing treatment of a subject not usually associated with refreshment.”—Kirkus Reviews

“This lively study is an informative and often entertaining introduction to the science of garbology.”—Contemporary Sociology

From the Back Cover

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.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Arizona Press; 0 edition (March 1, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0816521433
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0816521432
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 82 ratings

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William Rathje

William Rathje

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
82 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Bugs
5.0 out of 5 stars What Our Rubbish Says About Us
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2006
Verified Purchase
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!
4 people found this helpful
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T. T.
5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading for every American, especially "environmentalists"
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2018
Verified Purchase
Using a rigorous application of the scientific method without any bias, this book shatters virtually every popular myth about garbage (and "recycling") and tells us much more about ourselves and our trashy behavior than most people would ever want to know. Some of the "statistics" quoted may have changed a few percentage points over time since the original publication date, but the entire premise of the book remains both eye-opening and completely valid. Virtually everthing we think we know about our ancestors has been derived from the study of their trash, and we will be judged by future generations the same way, by the incredible amount of junk we leave in our wake.
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NigelR
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Resource
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2010
Verified Purchase
I've owned this book for many years, but I had lent it out to a friend and it was lost to me. While conducting research for a recycling project in the Chicago condominium building I live in, I remembered many of its core concepts and decided to buy it again. Although it was originally written in the 1990's, there is a new introduction which updates the reader on what has changed. Sadly not much has changed and we all throw away far too much trash. This is however an excellent resource to become educated on what gets thrown away, common fallacies about what happens at a landfill (not much degrading happening) and a treatise on measuring actual waste on a day-to-day level. I highly recommend this book.
One person found this helpful
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J. E. Nelson
4.0 out of 5 stars There is a link between owning a cat and reading "The National Enquirer"!
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2005
Verified Purchase
"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.
17 people found this helpful
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Rachel A. Lewis
5.0 out of 5 stars but I thought it was an informed look at the study of garbage. If you are looking for more op-eds about ...
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2016
Verified Purchase
If you are looking for a researched based discussion of trash this is the book for you. It is a bit older, so some of the information needs an update, but I thought it was an informed look at the study of garbage. If you are looking for more op-eds about people who have some relationship to trash which is more up to date, but not written by a scientist and is arguably more biased, read Garbology.
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Glenn Gallagher
5.0 out of 5 stars Garbage Holds Its Treasures
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2008
Verified Purchase
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.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A book about the archaeology of ourselves
Reviewed in Canada on October 2, 2023
Verified Purchase
I read this book by Rathje and Murphy for an archaeology course and found it informative and interesting. When it comes to waste management we really don't know what we are throwing out or its effects. It compares garbage of ancient civilizations to our own and explains what we have done to reduce the problems garbage causes us.
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