"Much of the nonbiodegradable matter that turns up in middens, such as intact pottery and utensils, invites speculation as to why it's there in the first place. Those who condemn our own era for its conspicuous consumption and conspicuous waste should at least bear in mind that throwing away perfectl"
"We think of a visit to colonial Williamsburg as a walk back in time—"where the eighteenth century still lives," the advertisements say—forgetting about the lawnmowers and weed-eaters that have taken the place of chomping cows and sheep; about the nonpeel, water-seal paint that keeps the buildings in"
"Garbage, then, represents physical fact, not mythology. It underscores a point that can not be too greatly emphasized: Our private worlds consist essentially of two realities—mental reality, which encompasses beliefs, attitudes, and ideas, and material reality, which is the picture embodied in the p"