William L. Rathje

William Rathje earned his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1971, with a specialty in the social history and the burials of the ancient Maya (who lived in what is now Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras). For the past 25 years, Rathje has focused most of his research and public presentations on the archaeology of modern garbage. During this time, Rathje has kept up with developments in burial studies. He presents entertaining, enlightening, and thought-provoking public talks on how our modes of treating the dead are logical and positive continuances of the trends embedded in the past.

After more than 1000 talks on "our garbage dilemma from the perspective of an archaeologist," Rathje is an experienced public speaker. His remarks will be illustrated with National Geographic-quality 35 mm color slides of the most magnificent and mysterious burials excavated by archaeologists around the world (for example, the life-size army which still guards the tomb of the first emperor of China, bizarre funeral rituals practiced by the Classic Maya nobility which are richly illustrated in colorful paintings on their burial pottery, the "Great Death Pitt" of Ur from 2400 B.C. in the Near East, the tattooed warrior-princess preserved in the permafrost on the Russian Steppes, the extravagances of the Victorian's Highgate Cemetery in London, and the "picture window" coffins of pre-Civil War slaves.)  The total picture presented will place modern burial practices in their full context--a context which demonstrates that today's funeral industry is based on time-honored traditions which make the full range of burial practices people desire more widely available and more cost-effective than ever before.

Professor William Rathje is the Founder and Director of The Garbage Project, which conducts archaeological studies of modern refuse.  Rathje received his BA from the University of Arizona and his Ph.D., which focused on the Archaeology of the Ancient Maya, from Harvard in 1971; he currently teaches at the University of Arizona.

Since 1973, The Garbage Project has studied fresh refuse to document household-level food waste, diet and nutrition, recycling, and discard of hazardous wastes. In addition, since 1987 The Garbage Project has evacuated 15 landfills across North America to record the quantities of various types of buried refuse and what happens to these materials over time. The hands-on realities of refuse have often been different from what was expected; in other words, what people say they do and what they actually so are often two different things.

Now known to the public as a "'garbologist," Rathje has published widely in academic journals and in such popular media as National Geographic, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Smithsonian.  In 1991, Dr. Rathje won the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science/Westinghouse Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology and in 1992, the American Anthropological Association Solon T. Kimball Award for Public and Applied Anthropology. Rubbish! The Archaeology of Garbage (co-authored with Cullen Murphy) was a national bestseller and is now out in paperback. Dr. Rathje is host of the computer-interactive video "Our Garbage Dilemma," a permanent exhibit in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Dr. Rathje's current research and public policy focus is on source reduction; as part of his endeavor, he serves as technical consultant to ULS (or Use Less Stuff), "the newsletter of source reduction."