Garbage In，Garbage Out
There are many ways of obtaining an understanding of people's behaviour. One of these
is to study the objects discarded by a community}objects used in daily lives. The
study of the refuse of a society is the basis for the science of archaeology in which
the lives and behaviour of past societies are minutely examined. .Some recent studies
have indicated the degree to which rubbish is socially defined.
For several years the University of Arizona,, USA has been running a Garbage! Project,
in which garbage is collected, sorted out and noted. It began in 1973with an
arrangement whereby the City of Tucson collected for analysis garbage from randomly
selected households in designated census collection districts. Since then the
researchers have studied other cities both in the USA and Mexico, refining their
techniques and procedures in response to the challenges of validating and
understanding the often unexpected results they have obtained. Garbage is sorted
according to an extremely detailed schedule, a range of data for each item is recorded
on a standardised coding form, and the researchers cross-tabulate their findings
with information from census and other social surveys.
This Project arose out of courses designed to teach students at the University the
principles of archaeological methodology and to sensitise them to the complex and
frequently surprising links between cultural assumptions and physical realities.
Often a considerable discrepancy exists between what people say they do -or even
think they do -and what they actually do. In one Garbage Project study none of the
Hispanic (Spanish-speaking)women in the sample admitted to using as much as a single
serving of commercially-prepared baby food, clearly reflecting cultural
expectations about proper mothering. Yet garbage from the Hispanic households with
infants contained just as many baby food containers as garbage from non-Hispanic
households with infants.
The Project leaders then decided to look not only at what was thrown away, but what
happened to it after that. In many counties waste is disposed of in landfills, the
rubbish is compacted and buried in the ground. So in 1987,the Project expanded its
activities to include the excavation of landaus across the United States Y-and Canada.
Surprisingly, no-one had ever attempted such excavations before.
The researchers discovered that far from being sites of chemical and biologicalactivity,theinteriorsofwastelandfillsareratherinactive,with the
possible exception of those established in swamps. Newspapers buried 20or more years
previously usually remained perfectly legible, and a remarkable amount of food
wastes of similar age also remained intact.
While discarded household products such as paints, pesticides, cleaners and
cosmetics result in a fair amount of hazardous substances being contained in
fear, provided that a landfills properly sited and constructed. Garbage projected
researchers have found that the leadut6donotmigratefar,and tend to get absorbed by
the other materials in the immediate surrounds.'
The composition of landfills is also strikingly different from what is
commonly believed. In a 1990 US survey people were asked whether particular
items were a major cause of garbage problems. Disposable nappies (baby
diapers) were identified as a major cause by41per cent of the survey
respondents, plastic bottles a by 29 per cent, all forms of paper by six
per cent, and construction debris by zero per cent. Yet Garbage Project
data shows that disposable nappies make up less than two per cent of the
volume of landfills and plastic bottles less than one per cent. On the other
hand, over 40 per cent of the volume of landfills is composed of paper and
around 12 per cent is construction debris.
Packaging -- the paper and plastic wrapping around goods bought -- has
also been seen as a serious cause of pollution. But while some packaging
is excessive, the Garbage Project researchers note that most
manufacturers use as little as possible, because less is cheaper. They
also point out that modem product packaging frequently functions reduce
the overall size of the solid-waste stream.
This apparent paradox is illustrated by the results of a comparison
of garbage from a large and socially diverse sample of homeholds in
Mexico City with a similarly large and diverse sample m three United
States cities. Even after correcting for differences in family size,
US households generated far less garbage than the Mexican ones. Became
they are much more dependent on processed and packaged foods than
Mexican households, US homeholds produce much less food debris.(And
most of the leaves, husks, etc. that the US processor has removed from
the food can be used in the manufacture of other products, rather than
entering the waste steam as is the likely fate with fresh produce
purchased by households.)
One criticism made of Western societies is that the people are wasteful
and throw things away while they are still useable. This, however, does
not seem to be true. Garbage Project data showed that furniture and
consumer appliances were entering the solid waste stream at a rate very
much less than would be expected from production and service-life
figures. So the researchers set up a study to track the fate of such
item and thus gained an insight into the huge informal and commercial
trade in used goods that rarely turns up in official calculations and
statistics.
The Garbage Project's work shows how many misconceptions exist about
garbage. The researchers are therefore critical of attempts to promote
one type of waste management, such as source reduction or recycling,
over others, such as incineration or landfilling. Each has its
advantages and disadvantages, and what may be appropriate for one
locality may not be appropriate for another.
Glossary: Leachate: water carrying impurities which has filtered
through the soil
The Garbage Project
started in 1973
first studied garbage in the city of (29) since then has studied it in other cities in USA and (30)
method: garbage collected and sorted, the information noted on (31)
finding compared with (32) and other social surveys.
reason for Project show students the (33) of archaeological (34)
from 1987 Garbage Project studied (35)in USA and CANADA.
Keys:29 Tucson 30 Mexico 31 standardised coding form 32 census
33 principles 34 methodology 35 landfills
MISCONCEPTIONS COUNTERARGUMENTS
II: Household items, like A:40% of landfills is paper
disposable nappies ,are a F: disposable nappies make up
major cause of garbage less than 2% of landfills
problems.
Counter arguments for Misconception II: A& F
MISCONCEPTIONS COUNTERARGUMENTS
III: packaging is wasteful, and D: processing and packaging
cause excess garbage. cuts down on other garbage
K: manufacture cut their costs b
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