garbology
Sign in to savethumb|A public works employee analyzing collected recycling as part of a [[waste characterisation study]] Garbology is the study of modern garbage, especially post-consumer waste, in the fields of archeology and environmental science. Garbology is also the practice of searching for information in discarded materials as part of an investigation, including dumpster diving conducted by journalists, hackers, activists, and private investigators.
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
8 sectionsContents
- Archeology
- Context
- Work at the University of Arizona
- Environmental science
- Investigative uses
- See also
- References
- Further reading
thumb|A public works employee analyzing collected recycling as part of a [[waste characterisation study]] Garbology is the study of modern garbage, especially post-consumer waste, in the fields of archeology and environmental science. Garbology is also the practice of searching for information in discarded materials as part of an investigation, including dumpster diving conducted by journalists, hackers, activists, and private investigators.
As a sub-field of anthropology and contemporary archeology, garbology involves studying behaviors and practices related to waste management and landfills to better understand human cultures and reduce environmental issues. It was pioneered by William Rathje at the University of Arizona in 1973. The Tucson Garbage Project studied the contents of residential waste and people's perceptions of waste, including identifying misconceptions about the contents of landfills.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “garbology” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.