You receive a list of refuse collected over a week, documented by a member of a house, that is all you know so far. What can you find out about this person and their household from their trash?

Well it turns out quite a bit… You can tell what kind of nutrition they are getting, what kind of medication they are taking, how much caffeine they drink, how much alcohol they are using to balance against the caffeine, what they like to cook and eat, what kind of appliances they are using in their household, how many roommates they have, how many pets they are cleaning up after, what they do in their free time, what kind of entertainment they are consuming, what their interests are, what part of town they live in and the list goes on and on.

It just happens that little bits of our life are left in the trash on a daily bases, if you take the time to look through someones trash you might just get to know them quite well. Don’t believe me? Try it yourself! I was doubtful when trying this myself, but some thoughtful analyzing brought me heaps of information, all from a small bag of refuse. We might be “what we eat”, but even more than that “we are what we throw away.”