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Location: Kitchen Trash Can

Who: Family Members

For this activity, I chose to analyze the trash can in my kitchen because it is the trash can most used in my house. Some activities around the garbage can are cooking, cleaning, taking out the trash, searching for items that were accidentally thrown away, people making a mess, recycling, and cleaning the trash can.  Most of these activities leave a trace in the trash can, usually including throwing things away like food waste, packaging, and other kitchen discards. Some items thrown away are food waste, including leftovers, spoiled food, and peels from fruits and vegetables. Different types of items discarded are packed, including plastic wraps, containers, and Ziploc bags. Some recycled items are plastics like milk jugs, juice, and soda bottles. The number of items changed when certain people were home; for example, when my mom was home, she cleaned and cooked much more than any of us, so a lot of trash was thrown away. On the other hand, when my dad is home, he cooks but doesn't clean as much as my mom, so there is a drastic change in the amount of trash that goes in the trash can. During this observation, my family knows a lot about recycling and trash waste. I say this because we have a trash can on the left side with two compartments. Regular waste is thrown in there, and on the right side, recyclable things are thrown in there. An extra observation I made was when guests who came over threw away trash on both sides of the trash, so at the end of the night, we had to go through the trash and sort things out correctly.

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Location: The Trash and Recycling Bins Outside Waterstones Bookstore, East Sussex, Next to the Muffin Break Café.

Who: The people observed were pedestrians passing by, customers of Waterstones bookstore, and patrons of the Muffin Break café. They ranged in age and varied between individuals alone and those in groups.

For this observation, I spent time watching how people disposed of their trash and recycling outside Waterstones Bookstore in East Sussex, near the Muffin Break café. I wanted to see if people actually followed the recycling labels on the bins or if convenience took priority. Over the course of my time there, I noticed some clear patterns: most people threw everything into the general trash without much thought, even when recyclable options were available. While a few individuals did make an effort to use the recycling bin, it was mostly for plastic bottles, and many recyclable coffee cups still ended up in the wrong place. Group behavior differed from solo behavior, with younger people in groups being slightly more mindful about sorting waste correctly. My presence seemed to have a minor impact, as some individuals hesitated or made a show of properly disposing of their trash when they noticed me watching. Overall, the results suggest that either people don’t fully understand what can be recycled or they don’t think it’s worth the extra effort. Small changes like clearer signage, better bin design, or awareness campaigns might encourage more responsible waste disposal.

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Who: My family
Where: Kitchen recycling, compost, and trash bins

I learned that my family is generally fairly responsible about throwing away only the items which cannot be composted, recycled, or repurposed. I was also interested in the way habits around disposal are taught in our family.

In the end, the kitchen waste formed a chronicle mainly of the meals we ate, and I believe it would be possible to study our diet from the remains in the household compost bin.

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Who: Strangers
Where: Bus Stop at Webster St and Buena Vista Ave

I noticed that in the area that I observed, it was less that people were being willfully ignorant, but rather people didn't have time to notice where their trash was going. When I was observing them, it was during busy hours when people were busy and trying to get to their places so they were rushing to finish their breakfasts. Of course, this doesn't excuse their lack of awareness for what they're doing, and when things are repeatedly done, it can become a habit so it can be advised for people to educate themselves and those around them.

I would have to say that these observations only make it obvious that our education for trash sorting is not good enough, and in my opinion, should be strengthened during the high school and college years so it becomes a solid foundation.

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Who: Hector, Dishwasher
Where: Restaurant Video

I know that my observing didn’t change his behavior because I watched over the camera system instead of sitting nearby

Unfortunately, with this observation there were times when I would cringe as I noticed some items that could have been recycled thrown away, or when something was composted that should not have been composted.

There are no refuse sorting posters in this area, so I’ll have to amend that next week.

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Where: Garbage Can in San Francisco near Homeless
Who: Community
I have always known that most San Francisco residents are transplants and thus are terrified of the homeless here; this isn’t exactly a proof positive of this but it certainly makes it easier to believe. While Bay Area natives seem to have gotten more accustomed to the idea that the homeless population is here to stay; transplants tend to be more on the "why don't they do anything about this?"

This trash can certainly created an easy ethnographic tale and that is seriously intriguing because it is just that, a trash can.

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Where: Outdoor Office
Who: Employees

I have taken notice that not all of the employees are as cognizant of the differences in waste.

I did notice some employees adhering to the purpose of each bin better than some however I am not able to conclude if it was intentional or due to simple lack of training. I am under the impression when no one is watching people tend to care less.

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Where: Office
Who: CoWorkers

The results show that there was significant intention to reduce food waste behavior, but the plastics: from attitudes to intention was not significant.

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Where: Mission Dolores Park, San Francisco
Who: Public

Some individuals didn't even care to not throw it away and decided to leave it in the parking lot.

Some interpretations can be that certain groups are highly cultured than others, but it's nice to see diversity in a park.

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Where: Backyard Trash Can
Who: 3 Roommates
Determined: Sex & Ethnicity

In my view, the objects' behaviors won’t change much because I did not behave differently. I chatted with them just as usual and they would not feel uncomfortable or found out I was observing their activities. I observed their daily life activities without letting them know and they throw their garbage as they live their normal life.

From the trash can, it can certainly reflect some of the objects’ activities. And from the trash details, we can learn more information. For example, in my case, I can tell from the Zara bag and the cut-off labels that the subject who throws this garbage is a young woman. Additionally, I can interpret from the chinese supermarket bag, spicy snacks, and kitchen residuals that the subject is Asian, most likely Chinese.