Bill Rathje is an archaeologist interested in the way the material and the mental fit together in a world, like all human-related worlds, that does not mesh as expected.

Rathje is the Director of The Garbage Project -- a 31-year-old study of household garbage and related interview-survey in several North American cities.

The primary finding of the study is simple: what people say they buy, use, save, and discard is different from the material remains that represent what they bought, used, saved, and discarded.

Rathje believes that this difference is important and amazingly fun to investigate!

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