Chapter 8

Bill Rahje a Harvard University- educated archaeologist who specialized in the study of ancient Mayan ruins is the founder of the Garbage Project. "The idea for a Garbage Project for a systematic and unprecedented deep analysis of modern waste using the same skills, tools and modes of inquiry archaeologist employ to understand the ancient world"(Hume 160). Trash has no political value all it contains is historical facts and hidden messages. It is amazing how people could understand other individuals by just going through their trash. For example, "based on the garbage recovered, the students concluded that, income notwithstanding, the two sets of families consumed similar amount of steak, hamburgers and milk. The poor families, however, bought more household cleansers and spend more on goods related to child education"(162). It is amazing how different groups can be determine    differently because of their trash.  The Garbage Project came up with a catalog for trash. 001 was beef, 003 was chicken, 090 was powdered baby formula 139 was plastic container. There are 190 separate codes in all. This could help many researchers understand trash quicker. Over all it is in interesting chapter. I like how Humes is now introducing us to solutions that many people around the country are coming up with.