Wasteful people (rant)

[COcheesehead]

About 8 % of plastic is actually recycled into another product. We used to "recycle" everything by shipping it to China in big bales so they could throw most of it into the ocean for us, but they cut that off. So, most of plastic recycling, at least, is performance art.

Our recycling center takes glass, cans, several types of paper, corrugate…

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Not trying to sound holier-than-thou here, but a "live and let live" philosophy can lead one to overlook really terrible things. See a neighbor pouring gallons of used motor oil into the storm drain? So what, not my problem, doesn't affect me directly. See a neighbor viciously spanking and abusing his child? Ehh, not my problem. Live and let live.

Of course, I am not equating things like child abuse with generating excessive trash that gets dumped into landfills. But, in all fairness, both things are "bad" (for society as well as the individuals) and should be discouraged. I don't see anything wrong with looking upon people who do bad things with scorn and disdain. Something can be bad for society, humanity, etc. without it being directly bad for just you.

Please explain what an individual can do about it, without risking one's own safety. Those folks exist as do wife beaters and animal abusers.

Luckily we do not live in a neighborhood that has such problems.

As far as waste is concerned, supermarkets throw so much food away that they could feed a small country in Africa. Again not much one can do about it.

 

[travelover]

Our recycling center takes glass, cans, several types of paper, corrugate…

As does mine, but what happens to it after it leaves the collection center? That is where it gets ugly.

 

[athena53]

About 8 % of plastic is actually recycled into another product. We used to "recycle" everything by shipping it to China in big bales so they could throw most of it into the ocean for us, but they cut that off. So, most of plastic recycling, at least, is performance art.

I'd heard something similar in a BBC podcast. Not only are most types of plastic difficult or not cost-effective to recycle but most of our "recyclables" are contaminated. Have you ever looked into the contents of some recycling bins or the bins labeled "Recyclables" at the airport? Styrofoam containers, food residue, paper labels, pizza boxes, stuff that just plain doesn't belong there. Someone has to sort it all out (a messy, unhealthy job) or it's just plain trash.

 

[easysurfer]

Not trying to sound holier-than-thou here, but a "live and let live" philosophy can lead one to overlook really terrible things. See a neighbor pouring gallons of used motor oil into the storm drain? So what, not my problem, doesn't affect me directly. See a neighbor viciously spanking and abusing his child? Ehh, not my problem. Live and let live.

Of course, I am not equating things like child abuse with generating excessive trash that gets dumped into landfills. But, in all fairness, both things are "bad" (for society as well as the individuals) and should be discouraged. I don't see anything wrong with looking upon people who do bad things with scorn and disdain. Something can be bad for society, humanity, etc. without it being directly bad for just you.

What is deemed right or wrong is a question of perception. If someone is watering a large lawn, is that person wrong for wasting water? Why does the person have a large lawn in the first place? On the other hand, the person has paid his taxes (I assume) for the property and water bill, so who am I to judge?

 

[Chuckanut]

I'd heard something similar in a BBC podcast. Not only are most types of plastic difficult or not cost-effective to recycle but most of our "recyclables" are contaminated. Have you ever looked into the contents of some recycling bins or the bins labeled "Recyclables" at the airport? Styrofoam containers, food residue, paper labels, pizza boxes, stuff that just plain doesn't belong there. Someone has to sort it all out (a messy, unhealthy job) or it's just plain trash.

I remember a presentation on recycling done by the local waste management company. Some person had decided that her old ceramic dishes should be recycled. One got into the recycled glass. He showed us a photo of a cubic yard of recycled glass, all ruined because of the numerous bits of the dish scattered through it. He estimate that about 3000 glass bottles were trashed that day, thanks to one person who was ignorant.

I knew a lady who once decided to recycle a pizza carton full of food grease. When warned that that it could not be recycled her response was "Well they better recycle it!" I expect that for her next trick she will go down to the ocean and order the tide not to come in.

From what I have been told, the only real recycling success is aluminum cans.

 

[MRG]

You mean the remainder on the child's plate? I doubt the staff would eat it. Would you want to eat it after the kid put his grubby fork in it?



As for the un-served food, I don't know how cruise ships handle it.

But Mr. A. worked summers at a beachside hotel during college, where the kitchen provided meals for the staff. In addition, staff were often served what the guests had been served the day before (properly stored and refrigerated, of course).



He remembered the food as always good, lots better than having to go out and buy your own food, as workers in other hotels had to do.

They put it the same place as other stuff they don't want. I've fished in the cover their un-served food provides.

 

[Winemaker]

Waste is in the eye of the beholder. Whether I make my burgers out of ground beef, ground chuck, with brisket, or veggie burger, some one can say there's waste. Whether I buy a $80 bottle of wine, or an $8 bottle of wine, someone is going to say there's waste. For a kid loads loads up a plate of food, maybe he went food challenged once before in his life, or maybe he has 10 brothers and sisters and he's conditioned to get as much as he can or gets some for a sibling. Maybe he just wasn't raised "right". Whether a winemaker uses the cheapo wine bottle or the heavy expensive bottle is waste. Doesn't change the wine in the bottle.

I've seen where restaurants take unused food and give/sell to farmer who use it to slop hogs. When my DD was married there were trays of unused food that went uneaten, fried chicken, mashed taters, corn. green beans, salad. When they asked me where I wanted the leftovers to go, I told them to take it to the local city mission. I asked why there was so much leftovers, because I won't have ordered that much. They couldn't explain but knew everyone ate and was eating. The city mission refused the food because of liability issues.

I've been a real estate investor for 22 years, some of my tenants have the craziest living habits. Some tenants upon moveout leave truckloads of good useable items, refrigerators and pantries full of food, good furniture, and loads of pocket change. Wasteful? I dunno, the food bank, thrift shop smile like a butcher's dog when I pull up with a truck load. No use complaining.

My DW and I bought our house band new, 30 years go. The windows screens are still in the boxes down in the furnace room, I have never moved them other than to clean. DW and son are/were severe asthmatics and zillions of allergies. The furnace, AC, and bedroom HEPA filters are on year round.

 

[Amethyst]

Of course I would say something, to someone (an authority) if I observed those terrible things. Live-and-let-live doesn't apply to child abuse, elder abuse, battered spouses, or animal abuse. Dumping motor oil is clearly illegal and it's time to call the cops.

I read OP as being about the mental/emotional stress OP experiences when observing the neighbor's sloppy, wasteful ways. Short of complaining to the HOA if one exists, there doesn't seem to be much OP can do to correct the situation. Thus, his DW's advice seems, on the whole, the best.

If OP really wants to experience some stress, just try personally chiding the neighbors.

Not trying to sound holier-than-thou here, but a "live and let live" philosophy can lead one to overlook really terrible things. See a neighbor pouring gallons of used motor oil into the storm drain? So what, not my problem, doesn't affect me directly. See a neighbor viciously spanking and abusing his child? Ehh, not my problem. Live and let live.

Of course, I am not equating things like child abuse with generating excessive trash that gets dumped into landfills. But, in all fairness, both things are "bad" (for society as well as the individuals) and should be discouraged. I don't see anything wrong with looking upon people who do bad things with scorn and disdain. Something can be bad for society, humanity, etc. without it being directly bad for just you.

 

[kgtest]

Of course I would say something, to someone (an authority) if I observed those terrible things. Live-and-let-live doesn't apply to child abuse, elder abuse, battered spouses, or animal abuse. Dumping motor oil is clearly illegal and it's time to call the cops.

I read OP as being about the mental/emotional stress OP experiences when observing the neighbor's sloppy, wasteful ways. Short of complaining to the HOA if one exists, there doesn't seem to be much OP can do to correct the situation. Thus, his DW's advice seems, on the whole, the best.

If OP really wants to experience some stress, just try personally chiding the neighbors.

It doesn't stress me out, but it does bother me. I would absolutely say something if someone struck their spouse in front of me, or was neglecting there child. In fact, I have. I get where you are going though in terms of "sticking to my business" with the pettier little things in life though. Maybe it is stress that is causing this extra nuance to become bothersome. Everyone is different and that does make life interesting. "c'est la vie"

I liked that analogy of burning 100 dollar bills in the front yard...similar to owning a share or two of the Packers NFL team, or an NFT.

 

[kgtest]

Waste is in the eye of the beholder. Whether I make my burgers out of ground beef, ground chuck, with brisket, or veggie burger, some one can say there's waste. Whether I buy a $80 bottle of wine, or an $8 bottle of wine, someone is going to say there's waste. For a kid loads loads up a plate of food, maybe he went food challenged once before in his life, or maybe he has 10 brothers and sisters and he's conditioned to get as much as he can or gets some for a sibling. Maybe he just wasn't raised "right". Whether a winemaker uses the cheapo wine bottle or the heavy expensive bottle is waste. Doesn't change the wine in the bottle.

I've seen where restaurants take unused food and give/sell to farmer who use it to slop hogs. When my DD was married there were trays of unused food that went uneaten, fried chicken, mashed taters, corn. green beans, salad. When they asked me where I wanted the leftovers to go, I told them to take it to the local city mission. I asked why there was so much leftovers, because I won't have ordered that much. They couldn't explain but knew everyone ate and was eating. The city mission refused the food because of liability issues.

I've been a real estate investor for 22 years, some of my tenants have the craziest living habits. Some tenants upon moveout leave truckloads of good useable items, refrigerators and pantries full of food, good furniture, and loads of pocket change. Wasteful? I dunno, the food bank, thrift shop smile like a butcher's dog when I pull up with a truck load. No use complaining.

My DW and I bought our house band new, 30 years go. The windows screens are still in the boxes down in the furnace room, I have never moved them other than to clean. DW and son are/were severe asthmatics and zillions of allergies. The furnace, AC, and bedroom HEPA filters are on year round.

Makes sense. DW uses a daily inhaler but loves her windows open whenever we can. She feels like keeping the windows shut all year would be worse for her then having them open. Interesting. We outta test that theory out.

Tenants. Oh man. My family owns rentals and its amazing what they leave behind. A tenant even left us their kitten one time. Just wish they woulda left the last months rent check along with it.

 

[Sunset]

.........
But what happens on a cruise ship to the foods that a kid tries and doesn't like? Does the staff get the remainder or is it thrown out?

I'm pretty sure, stuff on plates gets tossed.

Food left over and not served is used by the staff to eat.

Worse thing I have seen on the cruises, is people take large portions and then don't eat it or take 3 slices of Carnival's giant cakes (served by staff). Eat a bite from each, and then it get tossed out.

Carnival's large cakes are pretty but tasteless, I usually avoid them now, and always tell Carnival on the surveys what a waste the giant cakes are.

 

[Amethyst]

From what I've heard, cruise ships have junked the buffets - possibly for good. Now you point to what you want, and the server puts some on your plate.

This might cut down a bit on waste, although I bet it holds up the line more, as people go back and forth - "uhhh, I want some of that - no wait, some of that..."

I'm pretty sure, stuff on plates gets tossed.

Food left over and not served is used by the staff to eat.

Worse thing I have seen on the cruises, is people take large portions and then don't eat it or take 3 slices of Carnival's giant cakes (served by staff). Eat a bite from each, and then it get tossed out.

Carnival's large cakes are pretty but tasteless, I usually avoid them now, and always tell Carnival on the surveys what a waste the giant cakes are.

 

[Sunset]

From what I've heard, cruise ships have junked the buffets - possibly for good. Now you point to what you want, and the server puts some on your plate.

...

That is how Carnival does the giant pretty cakes ever since I saw them. Still even a 1 inch slice of cake is too much as they are so tall and tasteless.

We eat at the restaurants on cruise ships whenever possible, as it's so much nicer than lining up at the buffet food troughs

 

[Chuckanut]

Carnival's large cakes are pretty but tasteless, I usually avoid them now, and always tell Carnival on the surveys what a waste the giant cakes are.

Speaking of waste, these large cakes are a great example. Lots of visual appeal, not much flavor.

I ordered a large chocolate cake for a birthday party. It looked very dark and good, both the cake and the frosting. But, the chocolate flavor was weak. So weak, that the sugar overwhelmed it completely. The so-called chocolate frosting was mainly fat and sugar. Visually, it looked very inviting. But, the proof of the pudding (er.. cake) is in the eating. Very few people asked for 2nds. After the party I tossed it out. I am not going to blow my limited sugar calorie intake and junk like that.

FWIW, the next party, I bought a pre-made chocolate cake from Costco. While not as great as a local bakery (cake and pastries to die for), it was much better, and one could actually taste the chocolate flavor. Imagine that!

 

[NW-Bound]

That is how Carnival does the giant pretty cakes ever since I saw them. Still even a 1 inch slice of cake is too much as they are so tall and tasteless.

We eat at the restaurants on cruise ships whenever possible, as it's so much nicer than lining up at the buffet food troughs

I don't know about Carnival cruise ship cakes, but perhaps they don't bother to make them tasty because they get thrown away anyway. Chicken and the egg.

 

[athena53]

Another thought on this at the retail level. Multi-packs of EVERYTHING, with small items in "blister packs" to discourage shoplifting. An example: I bought 2 glue sticks a few years ago because I needed ONE and all the store had were doubles. I went looking for one of them last week- dried out and useless. Someday I'll find the other one. Other examples: small hardware such as screws and nails, batteries, light bulbs. A few good old-fashioned hardware stores will let you buy the actual quantity you need but they're a dying breed. Business cards. Remember those? Did anyone ever run through the entire supply of 500 before they left or changed titles? I love Costco but there's some stuff I won't buy there because I'm single and it would take me way too long to use them up. I have 3 rolls of adding machine tape because they sell them only in multi-packs. DH liked using one even though he was good with computers. Fortunately my brother the woodworker made a nifty little holder that lets you use them as notepaper (similar to a TP roll except smaller and made to sit on the counter). It will still take me years to use them up.

Not much waste for a one person but add up the impact for an entire population and we're taking massive waste streams.

 

[Gumby]

.... Business cards. Remember those? Did anyone ever run through the entire supply of 500 before they left or changed titles? ....

The young wife has always used my old business cards when painting her nails. Evidently, they're useful for that.

 

[Amethyst]

Cost would be the driver. Quality cake ingredients, e.g. chocolate, high quality shortening, and most especially vanilla, are expensive. Recently, I paid $120.00 for a 16-oz bottle of pure double-strength vanilla, which is all I use in baking.

Many people, kids especially, will gobble anything sweet and brightly colored. That is the intended audience for those show cakes.

I don't know about Carnival cruise ship cakes, but perhaps they don't bother to make them tasty because they get thrown away anyway. .

 

[mpeirce]

The young wife has always used my old business cards when painting her nails. Evidently, they're useful for that.

Good bookmarks too.

If one still worked...or read physical books...

 

[steelyman]

I still have old business cards printed up for my post-high school rock band. They have dog logos inspired by those cheesy poker playing dog art.

I kept a card given to me by John Hartford (bluegrass musician). He used a paddle wheel steamboat for a logo.

 

[jollystomper]

Not trying to sound holier-than-thou here, but a "live and let live" philosophy can lead one to overlook really terrible things. See a neighbor pouring gallons of used motor oil into the storm drain? So what, not my problem, doesn't affect me directly. See a neighbor viciously spanking and abusing his child? Ehh, not my problem. Live and let live.

Of course, I am not equating things like child abuse with generating excessive trash that gets dumped into landfills. But, in all fairness, both things are "bad" (for society as well as the individuals) and should be discouraged. I don't see anything wrong with looking upon people who do bad things with scorn and disdain. Something can be bad for society, humanity, etc. without it being directly bad for just you.

In my view, the bigger issue is "how well do you want to know your neighbors, and do you want your neighbors to know you, so that you can correctly interpret what you observe, and that their observations of you are correct?"

 

[Major Tom]

Box cutter works great for cutting up boxes, go figure.
Just keep a sharp razor blade in there. Cut away from yourself.

Ha! As usual, I come to a thread late, and comment not on the main topic of the thread, but on some vaguely related subject that came up during the course of the discussion.

When purchasing box cutters, always get one with a retractable blade, keep it fitted with a sharp blade, and retract it after every use. I used to work with a maintenance guy who had several box cutters, none of which ever had a sharp blade. They were largely useless. They were not retractable, but it didn't matter, because there was never any danger of cutting yourself on them due to the dull blades. However, there was also no danger of cutting the things you wanted to cut either

 

[brett]

We are in the MYOB category. We do not wind ourselves around the axle over things that we cannot control.

As long as we are not bothered we could care less about what our neighbors get up or don't get up to. Far too busy with our own lives to spend time judging how others live. We don't know, we don't want to know, and we do not care in the least.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We are in the MYOB category. We do not wind ourselves around the axle over things that we cannot control.

As long as we are not bothered we could care less about what our neighbors get up or don't get up to. Far too busy with our own lives to spend time judging how others live. We don't know, we don't want to know, and we do not care in the least.

+100, wish more folks thought as we do. Would save a lot of conflict.

BTW, I am sure there are a few who would moan about us spraying Round Up on our Driveway weeds too. Live and Let Live.