Have you taken a close look at your household consumption lately?
I do regularly as we seem to collect a ridiculous amount of stuff. I religiously purge as we go and always make sure that the recycle bin is full. I follow the reduce/reuse/recycle philosophy by buying things with minimal packaging. One of my pet hates is green grocers who think it’s a good idea to cling wrap vegetables and place them onto a foam tray – avocados, bananas. (Is it just me, or is that just the most stupid idea to have evolved this century?)
I was thinking of introducing a new weight management system for the house involving a set of scales at the entrance for stuff brought home. Bring something new into the house, then offset it with something else you take out.
I guess I hate repetitive waste more than anything. Sometimes you buy something you don’t like… or you don’t use it all before it expires… but when I see someone continually doing it, and wasting money and food.. it bugs me. It also bugs me seeing the stuff on the shelves that goes unsold and to waste right there before your eyes week after week in the stores.
I also hate seeing all the trash on the side of the roads… people too lazy to keep their trash and dispose of it properly… OR the mess people make in public places because they aren’t the ones who have to clean it up… so that others have to clean up after you when it is much easier for each of us to clean our own messes as we make them.
Wow, looks like I’ve fired you up there Stewart… and I hear you. Food wastage really upsets me (thank goodness I have two dogs to help me out there when I over cater). Littering is another bug bear of mine too – just lazy and thoughtless.
Yeah… it’s a semi-hot-button area for me 🙂 I’m far from perfect… but it’s so much easier to clean things up as I make the mess than to do it later.. and wasting food drives me nuts. I really hate seeing talk shows and game shows throw food off the roof or other stunts too.
Wes agrees! There is just too much stuff with stuff!!! My favorite cat food, comes in a can, with 12 cans in a box! That box goes in ANOTHER box with 12 boxes!
And that Box of 12 Boxes goes on a pallet with a bunk more boxes of 12 boxes that is all wrapped in shrink wrap. These pallets is put in a bigger box (container) and shipped to the store.
Our mommy makes our hairy slobbery sister Cinnamon’s food with the same stuff she buys for her and daddy at the farm market. (that does not comes in boxes or cans). Mes thinks that she should makes our cat foods too, And if everybody’s Mommy did that, then there would be far less boxes!
Kisses
Nellie
PS. Mes forgotted to say, we recycles everything and we reuses the styrofoam for paint pallets.
I can’t really I over indulge. I indulge only when I have cleared old stuff such as clothing otherwise there is no room at my place. Smaller place is a secret for down sizing. As for food, I buy them almost everyday. I learned the hard way of buying bulk and completely forgot about them. Waste of $$$. Waist not, want not. I don’t mind getting one of those scales before I enter the house though, tee hee 🙂
I agree with food. I’ve stopped weekly bulk shopping as my pantry fills with stuff I don’t get around to using. When I get those scales manufactured, I’ll be sure to send you a set 🙂
Hi Marti
I hate plastic bags, when i go to the supermarket why does everything have to be in plastic bags, it ends up in our landfill, in our oceans killing off the sealife,
why can’t we use paper that comes from a renewable source, reeds, pine trees, recycled paper and the list goes on.
I hear you Shirley. Why do people need to put every piece of fruit and vegetable in a plastic bag, only to then have it placed in another at the counter. I have increased the number of shops I do and am limited by my basket. If it doesn’t fit in, then it’s for another day. And I fill it loosley with everything – potatoes side by side with apples – one bug happy family. 🙂
I guess you missed the last kneejerk cycle… I remember back when they started pushing plastic over paper… because too many trees were being destroyed for paper products and “wasted” on bags. I thought it was short-sighted then, but the switch to plastic meant the trees were helped temporarily… but then the landfills were overran with plastic!
That’s why it is hard for me to get behind some “green” causes… because it seems like a lot of them aren’t that well thought-out for future problems. We saved the trees at the expense of everything else… so now what? Go back to harming trees for paper? A push for recycling is always good… or those reusable bags that you can bring yourself for each trip to the store.
It would be nice if the people who really care could get together with the people who are good at thinking things through, and make some good long-term plans instead of what usually happens is we wait until the last minute and overcompensate and cause a different problem to be managed later!
You’ve got a good point on looking at it holistically – sometimes we fall into looking at just one specific part of a problem, not realising we are solving one thing, but creating another problem elsewhere.