Wasteful practices that bug you

[chrissieq]

SiouzQ, I do the same - I have been known to use a chopstick to eke out the last of a moisturizer and put it in a small container and use until gone.

[catherine]

SiouzQ, I do the same - I have been known to use a chopstick to eke out the last of a moisturizer and put it in a small container and use until gone.

Did you guys ever see the Shark Tank episode where the woman invented a teeny, tiny spatula called the Spatty, designed to eke out the last bits of stuff inside make-up bottles? She got a deal with the Sharks.

[zeaxmays]

I use a utility knife to cut open bottles of lotion so I can get every last bit - sometimes I have eked out three more days worth of body lotion clinging to the sides by doing this!

yup, i save up about 6 cetaphil bottles and when my wife is low on her last one i cut them all open and scrape with a silicone scraper and fill one up, usually almost half way.

[SteveinMN]

I've done the bottle-upside-down thing and cut them open, too. Darned if I'm buying into that little game!

[frugal-one]

I walk a lot in my neighborhood and am confounded by all the food I see growing that never gets eaten. There is one house on a corner with multiple raised beds full of cabbages, broccoli, and greens and not one bit of it has been picked. It is as if the garden in your front yard is more of a look how trendy I am thing rather than growing it to actually eat. Our city just moved to recycling or composting literally everything. They sent a guide today that will take a bit of time to go through as there is much to learn but glad they are at least attempting it.

Last year at the end of summer I went with one of my neighbors to the compost site. There were whole plants pulled from the roots with the vegetables still on them that people had brought to the site. We took boxes and I picked many tomatoes, took them home and cleaned them, put in the basement and had tomatoes until Thanksgiving. She had squash (not my favorite) and other vegetables. Was quite astonishing that people did not give these vegetables away rather than throwing them in the compost.

[catherine]

I'm loving these responses!

Here's another one.. I have some family members who shall remain nameless who have all the accoutrements of coffee-making--french press, drip filter, Keurig machine, etc., etc. Yet every morning they get in their cars and drive a quarter of a mile to the local convenience store to buy their morning coffee.

I don't get that at all! What a waste of time, money, gas, and the cups are disposable styrofoam.

[SteveinMN]

I have some family members who shall remain nameless who have all the accoutrements of coffee-making--french press, drip filter, Keurig machine, etc., etc. Yet every morning they get in their cars and drive a quarter of a mile to the local convenience store to buy their morning coffee.

Do these folks also have big beautiful kitchens in which they never cook?

[SteveinMN]

There were whole plants pulled from the roots with the vegetables still on them that people had brought to the site. We took boxes and I picked many tomatoes, took them home and cleaned them, put in the basement and had tomatoes until Thanksgiving.

A friend of mine rents some of his farmland to growers who then take their produce to the local farmer's market. I was there at harvest time last year while he was collecting bushels of tomatoes which were dented or spotted or otherwise deemed imperfect enough to sell at the market. Even after the bad parts were peeled away, there was enough to make cases of tomato juice and spaghetti sauce. But if he were not willing to put in the couple of days work involved in gathering, grinding, boiling, and canning, what would have happened to that produce? It's not like he lives along some well-traveled road where he could just put up a sign marked "Free". Not to defend the waste, but I can see how it can happen. Would that there were better ways to gather those gleanings....

[redfox]

Do these folks also have big beautiful kitchens in which they never cook?

Years ago, I cleaned houses with this description. It was incredible. One in particular was inhabited by a model, who was painfully thin and blonde. She never even had food in the kitchen... Which I suppose is a job requirement. Ugh. It shocked me as being shamefully wasteful, to own a place that is all show and no utility.

We used to glean cauliflowers heads for our sheep! It's one of the funniest sights, to see sheep trying to chew down on heads of cauliflower, rolling along on the ground. Round white wooly beasts chasing round white veggies. They loved the cauli.

[KayLR]

We used to glean cauliflowers heads for our sheep! It's one of the funniest sights, to see sheep trying to chew down on heads of cauliflower, rolling along on the ground. Round white wooly beasts chasing round white veggies. They loved the cauli.

I love that image, redfox! thank you for the smile this grey day.