The four boxes of categorized trash
Given that I was not present for Trash Camp, I was not part of the digging and sorting of the trash found in the bags. Thus I was given four boxes that had categorized the trash found by another group, into four main categories: Food, Mail/Receipts/Tags, Cosmetics, and Miscellaneous. In order to conduct research, I took all of the objects in each box and analyzed them closely, describing what they were, the color, the size, the brand, and any other relevant information. Once I had all the information, I made some preliminary observations and conclusion about the household. However, the problem here is that there is a lot of missing information for me to draw further conclusions from, given that I was not present in the preliminary categorization.
Mail found in the trash
Inside the Mail/Receipts/Tags box, I found a lot of receipts from known brands such as Victoria Secret and Macys, for which I concluded that the household cares about the quality of their purchases. Moreover, the type of brand, mainly Victoria’s Secret, points to a teenage/young adult girl in the household. There were also a lot of mail and letters from banks, insurance companies, and such which pointed to a good economic standing of the household. Also, some of the receipts were from CVS and a medical bill, which led me to believe there is someone sick in the household.
Two types of lotions and make up
Inside the Cosmetics box I found a lot of make up from brand such as Clinique and NAKED2, which support my idea on good economic standing, as well as the interest in buying from known brands. In itself, the fact that there is one box solely for make-up could be an indicator to an interest in fashion and beauty by someone in the household, specifically the possible teenaged girl. However, one of the objects was a Wrinkle removing lotion, which points to an older woman in the household. Nonetheless, it is evident there is an interest in skin care and beauty.
Four different types of napkins were found within the same box
In the Miscellaneous box I found a variety of items that differed from each other, but help me understand more about the household. For example, there was a razor that pointed to the presence of an adult male. Something I found very interesting was the presence of four different types of napkins, as seen in the picture, which made me think about the fact that they were possibly acquired in different places outside the home. Thus, I began speculating that maybe the members of the household do not spend a lot of time at home, and given the function of napkins in meals, then maybe they also do not eat together that much.
All the different snack/individual food found in the box
Finally, inside the Food box, I found primarily wrappers, which is due to the fact that all actual food was thrown away and not stored when the boxes where sorted out. I discovered that there was somewhat of an interest in healthy food, as there was a lot of “organic”, “gluten free”, “fat free”, etc. labels. However, what caught my attention the most is that out of the 16 items, 14 of them where snacks or personal meals. Thus, in conjunction with my previous observation with napkins, I concluded that the household in fact does not eat meals together but rather has them individually on their own separate time. This drove my research into the individualism of consumption in the American Household, for which I have found that in America, meals are not considered a social event, unless the occasion calls for it (i.e. a dinner party), thus members of the family tend to eat on their own.