A hundred years ago, there was very little trash. Few news papers, no cardboard boxes or plastic wrappings. Anything that would burn went into the kitchen stove or the fireplace. Any undesirable food was fed to pigs. There was no trash collection, no garbage collection. When garbage collection began it was done by independents who had pig farms. Broken pieces of wood were called "kindling" because they were used to start fires for cooking or heating. When homes began to be heated by coal and oil, trash collection began. But trash had to be kept out of the garbage, as it could kill pigs. But garbage fed pigs could be fed pork scraps,acquire and transmit trichinosis, so garbage had to be cooked. Now grain fed pork is cheap enough, nobody wants garbage fed pig meat. So garbage and burnable trash get mixed, and the names used interchangeably. But most cities want recyclable materials collected separately. So here in LA we have black barrels for vurnable trash and garbage, blue barrels for recyclable things, and green barrels for grass clippings and other plant debris.
