Garbology

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For uses of this term in reference to espionage or identity theft, see Dumpster diving

Garbology was a word invented by AJ Weberman to describe his study of Bob Dylan's trash. Its primary academic meaning now is the study of refuse and trash. It is an academic discipline and has a major outpost at the University of Arizona long directed by William Rathje. The project started in 1971, originating from an idea of two students for a class project. It is a major source of information on the nature and changing patterns in modern refuse. Industries wishing to demonstrate that discards originating with their products are (or are not) important in the trash stream are avid followers of this research, as are municipalities wishing to learn whether some parts of the trash they collect has any salable value. In addition, Rathje's research uncovered some misconceptions about landfills. In particular, it was revealed that the rate of natural biodegradation is far slower than had been assumed (e.g., in capacity planning). The term 'garbology' is also used as an amusing term for the 'science' of waste management, with refuse workers called 'garbologists'.

The studies of garbology and archaeology often overlap, because fossilized or otherwise time-modified trash is quite often the only remnant of ancient populations that can be found. For those who left no buildings, no writing, no tombs, no trade goods, and no pottery, refuse and trash are likely to be the only possible sources of information. In addition, ancient garbage sometimes contains information available in no other way, such as food remains, pollen traces of then local plants, and broken tools.

Another use of garbology is as a recognized act of corporate espionage. This not only includes physical sorting of papers from a rubbish bin but also analysis of files found in a computer's recycle bin.