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Task · part of 7. Do ONE of the following, and discuss it

7(c). List a week of your family's trash

Optional May not apply Often forgotten

This may not apply to you. You have not answered "Requirement 7: museum, heirloom or trash?" yet. Answer it and this step will either settle or drop off.

THE ONLY WEEK LONG WAIT ON THE BADGE, and it hides in the cheapest option. Record what your household throws out over one week, then discuss with your counselor what archaeologists would make of you in a thousand years. Start the list on day one and decide later whether to use it.

Note. START THIS ON DAY ONE EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT SURE YOU WILL USE IT. A week of household waste, recorded honestly, costs nothing while it runs and cannot be produced retrospectively. Keep the list by the bin rather than trusting your memory in the evening, note quantities and materials rather than just naming things, and tell your family what you are doing so that nothing goes out unrecorded. The discussion afterwards is the actual requirement: what an archaeologist a thousand years from now would conclude about your household, and where they would be wrong.

Where this step comes from

  1. Archaeology Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2025-12-31), Requirement 7(c) · The requirement asks for a list of the trash your family throws out during one week.

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