of the 1951-1954 inventory of municipal refuse 
storage, collection and disposal practices by the 
Public Health Service reveal some improvement of 
community programs in the last decade (Hope et al., 
1956). (27) This inventory also showed that the 
use of open dumps for disposal was practiced by 
80 percent of the reporting cities with a population 
under 5,000, and by 35 percent of the reporting 
cities in the 50,000 — 100,000 population group. 
Sanitation in insect and rodent control includes 
the three phases of refuse handling: storage, col- 
lection, and disposal, together with premise main- 
tenance and the proper storage of products and 
materials. Emphasis will be placed here on the 
relationship of each activity to the existing or 
potential insect and rodent problem. 
Definitions 
Because of the varying definitions of refuse and 
its components, it is desirable to define the terms* 
used herein to avoid mistandings. 
REFUSE: All putrescible and nonputrescible 
solid wastes, (except body wastes). 
Refuse includes garbage, rubbish, 
ashes, street cleanings, dead animals, 
abandoned automobiles, and solid 
market and industrial wastes. 
Refuse Characteristics and Quantities 
In a 1951 study of quantities of refuse, princi- 
pally residential, collected in 13 California cities, 
it was found that each person produced an average 
of 2.05 pounds of refuse every day. In volume, this 
is equal to approximately 0.147 cubic feet per 
capita per day. Two of the 13 communities pro- 
duced slightly over 4 pounds per capita per day. 
(An Analysis of Refuse Collection and Sanitary 
Landfill Disposal, 1952). (49) At the present time 
average residential refuse production in the United 
States probably exceeds the average of 2.05 pounds 
per capita per day as reported in the California 
study. Total community refuse (commercial and 
residential) averages between about 3 to 5 pounds 
per capita per day. Numerous factors, such as geo- 
graphic location, season, social and economic 
character of the community, types of business and 
industry, and type and frequency of collections, 
influence the amounts of refuse collected in a com- 
munity. Some of these factors may also have a 
direct bearing on the existing or potential insect 
and rodent problems. The volume of garbage pro- 
duced per capita is declining with the increased 
use of frozen packaged foods and other highly 
processed and prepared foods “ready for the pan 
or table.” At the same time there is a correspond- 
ing increase in household rubbish such as paper 
containers, cans, and bottles. 
REFUSE STORAGE 
GARBAGE: Putrescible animal and vegetable 
wastes resulting from the handling, 
preparation, and consumption of foods. 
RUBBISH: Nonputrescible solid wastes (except 
ashes). Rubbish consists of both com- 
bustible and noncombustible materi- 
als, such as paper, cardboard, tin 
cans, yard clippings, wood, glass, 
bedding, crockery, metals and similar 
objects. 
ASHES: Residue from the burning of wood, 
coal, coke, or other solid combustible 
materials. 
♦Refuse Collection and Disposal for the Small Com- 
munity 1953 (47). 
Effect on Vector Populations 
Like other living organisms, rats, flies, and 
mosquitoes must have food, harborage, water, and 
suitable breeding media. The inadequate or im- 
proper storage of refuse offers all of these. Improp- 
erly stored garbage provides food for rats and 
flies, and a breeding media for flies. Improperly 
stored rubbish often offers harborage for rats and 
furnishes ample breeding sites for mosquitoes. 
Increased urbanization, with the attendant over- 
crowding of the human population in many sections 
of cities and towns, has made the refuse handling 
problem more acute and the environmental factors 
for insects and rodents more favorable. The grow- 
ing areas of substandard housing in communities 
is much more important than fringe residential 
building as a factor in the favorable environment 
for insects and rodents. 
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