Garbology: Pet-Related Items Paper

Garbology: Contrasting Elements During the process of this exercise in Garbology, I chose to collect garbage from my neighbor’s private home. I personally do not know them very well, but we are friendly enough that they were willing and happy to provide their trash and recycling as part of the experiment. I chose to separate the items between trash and recycling, and then created subcategories within those headings. The table below is a list of the categories and the items I chose as anthropological examples of their lifestyle, social class, and preoccupations.
Trash Recyclables

Food Food Packaging
Pet-Related Items Paper
Non-Food Items Glass

One of the most fascinating aspects of the food trash I found was that the family clearly did
not compost or have a trash compactor in their home. Among the scraps were banana peels, apple cores, rotten vegetables, chicken bones, other meat by-products, broken egg shells, and spoiled lettuce. Yet in contrast, there was an enormous amount of plastic and paper food packaging in the recycle bin primarily from take-out and delivery. This contrast suggests that although the family may have the intention to cook and eat healthy food, they clearly end up eating from restaurants more often than not. This pattern suggests that they must have busy schedules, and also suggests that they have some degree of financial freedom since delivery and take-out is much more costly than cooking at home. The items of food waste in the trash that were consumed at home were primarily fruit and eggs. These are items that are easily consumed as a snack, and eggs are a relatively quick and simple breakfast in the morning. Alternatively, they might not know how to cook very well, or simply do not care to do it. Amongst the more undesirable aspects of the trash, I found a few bags of discarded cat litter. The sheer amount of it suggests that they have at least two cats. The recycling also contained clean, empty cans of designer wet cat food, along with an empty bag of Wellness brand cat food. Again, the high end brand of the pet food suggests they are financially stable. Either that, or they really love their cats. What was perhaps the most shocking of all the items was the overwhelming amount of paper in the recycling. The bin was full of newspapers, various types of magazines, and financial statements: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Elle, Oprah, InStyle, Teen Vogue, The Economist, Forbes, Money, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Barron’s, among others. Also included were torn up bank and credit card statements. Not only does this family enjoy keeping up on the financial markets, they seem to be deeply embedded in it professionally. It would seem that the financial periodicals most likely belonged to the head of the household while the style magazines would seem to have been the preoccupation of a female teenage inhabitant of the household. Oprah magazine would most likely belong to the female head of the household. Based on these materials, it would seem that this family is comprised of a male and female adult and a teenaged girl, who lead very busy lifestyles. Not only are they engaged in the fast-paced business world, but this family seems to be fond of entertaining. The recycling bin also contained a great deal of empty wine bottles and paper food packaging for fancy crackers and olives. An alternative observation would be that the adults drink frequently. Yet based on their financial success and diversity of accounts, it would appear that they are instead well-connected and sociable. Another interpretation could suggest that this family has alcoholic tendencies, purchases items that are out of the scope of their actual budget, and read financial information as a way to learn how to get out of debt or make investments. The overwhelming amount of financial statements could be that they have too many credit cards and are receiving bills they are unable to pay. Amid the non-food related items were some that related to personal hygiene.
I found two different brands of contact lens cleaner. This would suggest that there are at least two members of the family who wear contact lenses. The choice to use contacts instead of glasses could suggest vanity. There was also an Aveda shampoo bottle, suggesting that both or either of the female household members have an interest in high-end hair care focused on natural ingredients. I found an empty tube of MAC lipstick labeled as “cherry red.” There was also an empty bottle of OPI nail polish. The fact that the females of the household do their own nail polishing and wear lipstick suggests that they are concerned with their appearances, but somewhat frugal. Frequent manicures are not inexpensive. Yet it could also just be for touch-ups between manicures. There was an empty tube of Jason whitening toothpaste. This item also suggests that at least one member of the family is concerned with purchasing health-driven brands while choosing to select an option that assists in the whiteness of their teeth. Included in this personal hygiene section of the trash were men’s razors from the Dollar Shave Club. Perhaps the male adult in the family may be trying to save money. There was also a can of Gillette shaving
foam.
One could potentially deduce that the male member of the household acts with monetary discretion by purchasing more low-end products. He could be in the process of attempting to fix a bad financial situation. In contrast, the females of the household seem to have no problem buying luxury goods, from brand name cat food to expensive personal hygiene products. These items all pose an interesting conundrum to the researcher. One could posit this family as being in financial crisis with addictive behaviors, or as a busy family who is thriving among a supportive community of like-minded professionals.