Lee Bennett wrote:
>
> Burn barrels (50-gallon metal drums) are still used in some
> remote areas in southeastern Utah, where I currently live..

I grew up in SW Penna. Refuse came in three types: burnable stuff went
to
 the burn barrel (actually a wire-mesh cage). We young boys burned that
"rubbish" and stirred the ashes to make certain the fire was out, every
day. Cans and bottles and such went to the "trash" bags which were
emptied  on the trash pile daily. "Edible garbage"--that's the term we
used--went to the compost heap where, every year, we harvested the best
volunteer watermellons, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

--
Dan Mouer
http://saturn.vcu.edu/~dmouer/homepage.htm