Wasteful people (rant)

[Ronstar]

One other category of wastefulness that I've noticed, and found truly astonishing, is leftover food. A close friend of mine has had me over for dinner at his house numerous times over the years, and I have seen jaw-dropping incidents of nearly inconceivable food waste. Once, we were in the kitchen helping him clean up after dinner, and he scraped an entire plate of perfectly edible food (an untouched chicken breast, broccoli, etc.) into the sink disposal. I said, "You didn't want to save that and have it tomorrow", and he shrugged and said "Nah. I don't eat leftovers, so I'm pretty sure I'd end up just throwing it away." To this day, when I think of that incident, it makes me both angry and sad that (smart, good-natured, otherwise considerate) people can be so horribly, blatantly wasteful.

We have friends who throw away leftovers. We have been at their place for dinner and have seen good food go right into the trash. I feel like saying something but I don't.

I hardly ever throw anything away. But I do use paper plates more than I should.

 

[ivinsfan]

My mother, having gone through the war without enough to eat, would smack us silly if we wasted food. To this day, I still save my leftovers and work hard to not let anything go to waste.

I've gone the other way since DH went on a pretty large dose of betablockers for rhythm issues. Those of you on betablockers know missing a dose or stomach flu or a case of food poisoning can cause havoc with heart rhythm.




I'll throw stuff out of the fridge with no mercy. DH gives me grief and say it's "probably" still good to eat. I don't care it's not worth the minor savings or being guilty about throwing away food.

 

[Sunset]

Surely you mean your neighbor? You seem very reputable to me.

, I have fixed it now... need to finish my coffee here so I can type English more clearly.

I do mean our neighbor, found out a few years after we moved in by accident when using a website for fun to see sex offenders in the area.

 

[Andre1969]

I can actually see the rationale for the a/c. Not just allergies, but humidity, perhaps. And, if temps are only 72-75 degrees, running the a/c really isn't costing that much. If you want to save serious money on the a/c bill, you need to shut it off when temps are brutally hot!

The sports car sitting out in the elements would bother me, too. Not because the car itself is a waste of money, but if it's some kind of toy/hobby car, I'd think they want to keep it indoors and out of the weather as much as possible.

My household just consists of two people...me and my housemate. Trash/recycle pickup is once per week on Friday. I normally take the recycle bin up to the curb every week. How full it is varies...sometimes it's only 1/3 full, but sometimes it's been packed to the top. If we've had a party with lots of drinking, the empty bottles will fill it up quicker. And if we have a lot of shipping boxes that get broken down in one week, that fills it up pretty quickly, too. In contrast, I'd say the trash bin only goes out maybe once every 3-4 weeks. So while we might generate a lot of recyclables (and who knows, perhaps they end up in a landfill anyway, these days?) it seems like we don't generate much trash.

I could probably get away with burning most of our trash. I have a big burn barrel. I have a feeling the county would frown upon that, though.

 

[RetiredHappy]

It is difficult for someone who is LBYM to understand another BTD person. I have zero issues with your description of "wasteful people" other than that they let their car run for 20 minutes. One man's meat is another man's poison.

PS. You better not come to our neighborhood. Everyone leaves lights on all night as though it is Christmas everyday - pathway lights, courtyard lights and outside door lights.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

I am an A+ at not wasting things. I don't use AC or heat, everything from lights to food doesn't get wasted.

The gasoline comment is a favorite complaint for me. Where I live people commonly sit in their (ICE) cars and do whatever they are doing...for long periods, engine running without a care in the world. I realize in extreme heat or cold, there is an explanation. But this occurs no matter the weather. This can be seem daily, no matter which parking lot I'm at.

And leaving out trash cans? I'm all for it. I walk my dogs several times a day. If you leave your cans out for several days, I have more options to dispose my "doggie bags". Some will say that's poor manners. My response is 1) be glad I picked it up in the first place, and 2) if your cans weren't left out 24/7, I wouldn't be able to put anything in them.

 

[MRG]

I'm not going to have any issues with someone who has allergies and runs the AC. I have been suffering from allergies for years and last summer was unreal. I ended up in urgent care from side effects of the allergy medication. Now I just suffer.

I'd say following your DWs advice.

 

[Time2]

, I have fixed it now... need to finish my coffee here so I can type English more clearly.

I do mean our neighbor, found out a few years after we moved in by accident when using a website for fun to see sex offenders in the area.

When my daughter was younger she was part of deputy deputies, she learned about the local sex offenders website, I was shocked by how may were within a mile of our home.

 

[Aerides]

And leaving out trash cans? I'm all for it. I walk my dogs several times a day. If you leave your cans out for several days, I have more options to dispose my "doggie bags". Some will say that's poor manners. My response is 1) be glad I picked it up in the first place, and 2) if your cans weren't left out 24/7, I wouldn't be able to put anything in them.

Wrong. I'm not "glad" you picked it up. In most areas of the world you are required to pick it up. It is your responsibility as a dog owner even if it's not specifically the law in your area.

And my garbage can is not for your use, ever. If I get home late on trash day you have no right to dump your dog crap (or any of your personal garbage) in my trash can. Don't play that game. We all learn by around age 5 that two wrongs don't make a right.

 

[4legsgood]

As someone who's been on the receiving and giving end of neighbor complaints, I've found the best approach for me is a healthy disinterest in what they're doing and their opinion of what I'm doing.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Wrong. I'm not "glad" you picked it up. In most areas of the world you are required to pick it up. It is your responsibility as a dog owner even if it's not specifically the law in your area.

And my garbage can is not for your use, ever. If I get home late on trash day you have no right to dump your dog crap (or any of your personal garbage) in my trash can. Don't play that game. We all learn by around age 5 that two wrongs don't make a right.

Where I live there is a never ending amount of dog poo not just near the sidewalks, but on the sidewalks themselves. I'm sure there are plenty of people happy I pick mine up, despite your thoughts.

As far as the trash cans, I specifically mentioned cans that are left out 24/7, instead of being taken in where they belong. Actually there's a strange phenomena in my area where people bag the poo, then toss the bag in the parkway or peoples yards. I've seen it a few hundred times, and read about this on Nextdoor. Not sure what's up with that, but if the cans are carelessly left out all week, I will continue to help myself.

You can choose to do what you like, this is how I do things.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

We have friends who throw away leftovers. We have been at their place for dinner and have seen good food go right into the trash. I feel like saying something but I don't.

I hardly ever throw anything away. But I do use paper plates more than I should.

I have a dog, there is zero food waste in my house. Just to be sure, she does a routine trash can survey every chance she gets
All fast food containers are diligently licked clean before being disposed of.
Not an ounce of fat on her, she gets kibble and canned twice a day and still always hungry.

 

[Gumby]

Looks like the cat is the boss of the food dish.

 

[Amethyst]

Does it give the nature of their offense? Some states will convict people for relatively minor things, such as having sex in a park or on a beach. Yes, sex on the beach, including at night when nobody can see, is a crime in many municipalities!

When my daughter was younger she was part of deputy deputies, she learned about the local sex offenders website, I was shocked by how may were within a mile of our home.

 

[Amethyst]

I agree. Do we all know which of our neighbors are irresponsible - and which ones are tired caregivers, widows, people who carry oxygen around with them, etc.?

Instead of appropriating their trash can for your personal use, how about surprising them by kindly returning it to in front of their garage?

Don't put your cigarette butts in somebody else's trash can, either.

And my garbage can is not for your use, ever. If I get home late on trash day you have no right to dump your dog crap (or any of your personal garbage) in my trash can.

 

[Amethyst]

Both critters are lovely and trim.

I have a dog, there is zero food waste in my house. Just to be sure, she does a routine trash can survey every chance she gets
All fast food containers are diligently licked clean before being disposed of.
Not an ounce of fat on her, she gets kibble and canned twice a day and still always hungry.

 

[Time2]

Wrong. I'm not "glad" you picked it up. In most areas of the world you are required to pick it up. It is your responsibility as a dog owner even if it's not specifically the law in your area.

And my garbage can is not for your use, ever. If I get home late on trash day you have no right to dump your dog crap (or any of your personal garbage) in my trash can. Don't play that game. We all learn by around age 5 that two wrongs don't make a right.

Wow, that's pretty hard.

Tightwad is welcome to use my trash.

btw, I'm one of those people the never moves their trashcan. There seems to be a natural place for it at the road, and it was stayed their 27 years.

 

[Walt34]

When my daughter was younger she was part of deputy deputies, she learned about the local sex offenders website, I was shocked by how may were within a mile of our home.

As Amethyst correctly notes many jurisdictions have a rather liberal definition of what constitutes a "sex offense", things that might cause Miss Manners to frown, but wouldn't be worthy of note at all to many.

 

[Gumby]

Some years back, one of my young wife's 17 year old high school students was convicted of statutory rape for having sex with his 15 year old girlfriend. He actually went to prison for it. Probably not a danger to anyone, but he's still on the sex offender registry.

 

[Time2]

Does it give the nature of their offense? Some states will convict people for relatively minor things, such as having sex in a park or on a beach. Yes, sex on the beach, including at night when nobody can see, is a crime in many municipalities!

No, it does not! I almost mentioned that it doesn't give the crime, so many may not be anything that would cause one concern about safety. When I saw one of my regular customers on there, I had to wonder about him.
The other thing that surprised me were the number of women on the list.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

They're okay sharing the water bowl but the dog is very food aggressive and has to eat outside. The cat is 17, only 4.2 lbs, on thyroid medication, always starving and drinks gallons of water a day. She's literally wasting away but as long as she keeps eating and drinking, I just can't put her down. They actually hate each other with a passion and have gotten into many fights which the cat always wins. This cat has never met a dog that she's frightened of.

 

[Mr. Tightwad]

Wow, that's pretty hard.

Tightwad is welcome to use my trash.

btw, I'm one of those people the never moves their trashcan. There seems to be a natural place for it at the road, and it was stayed their 27 years.

My goal is to get the poo off the streets. And again the people that bag it and toss the bag onto the sidewalk, parkway, or even a yard...also a big no-no.

I routinely pick up poo left behind by others less considerate (and some left by coyotes). And I make sure it gets disposed of properly. In trash cans.

 

[sergio]

My opinion is to let it go and if it's a 'good' neighbor otherwise, just be happy. Be happy you don't have a truly bad neighbor - one whose house is in complete disrepair, or leaves a barking dog out all day/night, smokes near your open windows, builds a fence that encroaches into your yard and refuses to fix it, etc.

A couple of minor thoughts, as least in our case:

75F outside means the inside of our house could easily be 78F if it's very sunny or we're using the oven or whatever. That's too hot. So AC it is.

Trash could be anything. When we had two kids in diapers, a week of diapers would easily fill 1/3 of the trash can and ours was often overflowing. Now my wife ships packages from her online store which also generates a lot of waste. They may have a perfectly valid reason for having a lot of trash.

An idle car for 20 minutes uses maybe 1/4 of a gallon of gas. The emissions are probably the bigger issue. Don't worry about their extra cars - if it makes them happy, then so be it.

 

[Amethyst]

Well, it generally takes at least two to tango on the beach.

The other thing that surprised me were the number of women on the list.

 

[Amethyst]

Lordy! So "jail bait" really exists. I always thought it was a snicker-snicker term.

Some years back, one of my young wife's 17 year old high school students was convicted of statutory rape for having sex with his 15 year old girlfriend. He actually went to prison for it. Probably not a danger to anyone, but he's still on the sex offender registry.