In some cities around the US, there are people looking at the garbage to see what the garbage tells them about us in general. Many of us seen Indiana Jones looking for lost treasurers in the movies; however in real life what we throw away can be studied to see how people really behave. An interesting book about the subject is Rubbish – The Archaeology of Garbage – what our garbage tells us about ourselves by William Rathje and Cullen Murphy published by Harper Collins, NY, 1992. The book is the results of the Garbage Project where researchers went in garbage dumps to see what we throw away. The dumps were identified by what part of the city the garbage came from to see if there were differences between affluent and less affluent neighborhoods. The answer is a little bit. for example less affluent people buy smaller sizes of products; more affluent buy the super sized.

Generally we all report we eat less sugar and sweets than we do; and we over report the healthy foods. The researchers had people prepare logs and then compared it to their garbage. An interesting fact was with red meat we tend to cut off the fat; however when we eat less red meat, we are eating more hotdogs and processed meats with higher fat contents. The fat is hidden so we do not worry about it; but we believe we are eating healthier.

The project looked at garbage dumps and many people believe things will break down in the dump particularly the organics. The reality, the organics breakdown if they are near an oxygen source; once the material is buried the billions of bugs do not go to the bottom of the dump. they stay on top. What should be breaking down will not be for multiple lifetimes.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, whether you are looking for trends and trying to predict how people will behave or breaking down a myth of what a dump does and does not do. Looking at garbage can be another tool, for if someone tells you the next greatest and big thing to save the world, you can use your knowledge to help you evaluate. Garbage dumps are not going away and we will still be big users of garbage companies, how we deal with it may make you money for a long time to come.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.