Author Topic: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me  (Read 8610 times)

zsmith

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Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« on: July 22, 2015, 10:29:36 AM »
For my birthday this week some friends came over with takeout food from Pei Wei. At the end of the night they were talking about who wanted the leftovers and ultimately decided they could just toss it since neither one of them would want to eat the leftovers. I volunteered my husband to eat the leftovers so they wouldn't go to waste. I cannot understand throwing away perfectly good food/money like that.

Similarly when my family visits they always buy snacks, sunscreen (instead of bringing it from home) and tanning oil, etc. and end up abandoning it when they leave, along with half empty hotel shampoos and soap etc. I always rescue all of this stuff, but it boggles my mind when people don't even worry about the waste.

We aren't perfect, but I feel insanely guilty when I don't use groceries or produce and have to toss it and my weekly meal planning goal is always to waste nothing. Anyone else have examples of this in their lives?

MgoSam

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #1 on: July 22, 2015, 10:35:20 AM »
The problem is worse than you think. Watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xwLWb0lLY

mm1970

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #2 on: July 22, 2015, 10:58:06 AM »
totally.  I try hard to avoid waste.  So much so that this morning, my 9 year old says "What's for dinner?"  "The last of the pasta."  "Good, I'm so tired of eating the same thing over and over."  "Well, when you learn to cook you can avoid that."  (Note: I made the pasta on Saturday - we ate it Saturday, and Monday, and tonight, which is Wednesday).  Funny, he doesn't mind eating the same thing over and over if it's breaded chicken fingers, pizza, or tacos.

We are going on vacation soon and I'm carefully eating everything left in the fridge/ freezer.  And thinking if I should cook something before we leave and put in the freezer for when we come home.  We will arrive home at midnight and have to go to work the next day.  Hmm...

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2015, 11:11:19 AM »
The problem is worse than you think. Watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xwLWb0lLY

That's what came to my mind when I saw the title.

Kaspian

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2015, 11:27:16 AM »
It's so sad--people are dumbfounded when I say I have almost zero food waste.  Guess that's not normal?  Very occasionally (because I live on my own and can't eat it all in time) I have to throw away the last few bits of a head of lettuce (if it's gone brown and watery), the tail end of an English cucumber if it gets mouldy/watery, and (rarely) an apple that became rotten (or probably was like that when I bought the bag.)  Every single other thing either gets cooked or chopped and frozen (if I don't think I can eat it in time.)  Waste is weird.  ...No meal planning, I guess?  I don't plan meals a week in advance, but I do plan the current night's if something looks like it could turn soon.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2015, 11:45:14 AM »
It's so sad--people are dumbfounded when I say I have almost zero food waste.  Guess that's not normal?  Very occasionally (because I live on my own and can't eat it all in time) I have to throw away the last few bits of a head of lettuce (if it's gone brown and watery), the tail end of an English cucumber if it gets mouldy/watery, and (rarely) an apple that became rotten (or probably was like that when I bought the bag.)  Every single other thing either gets cooked or chopped and frozen (if I don't think I can eat it in time.)  Waste is weird.  ...No meal planning, I guess?  I don't plan meals a week in advance, but I do plan the current night's if something looks like it could turn soon.

I've run into an odd number of fruits that go bad within 24 hours of getting them home. I recently moved and switched from a local coop to a "big box" grocery store, so maybe that is why. But honestly- raspberries that don't even last one day before being covered in mold? And looked fine when I bought them? I just don't understand. Very frustrating, because I have very little food waste otherwise.

zephyr911

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2015, 01:09:44 PM »
For my birthday this week some friends came over with takeout food from Pei Wei. At the end of the night they were talking about who wanted the leftovers and ultimately decided they could just toss it since neither one of them would want to eat the leftovers. I volunteered my husband to eat the leftovers so they wouldn't go to waste. I cannot understand throwing away perfectly good food/money like that.

Similarly when my family visits they always buy snacks, sunscreen (instead of bringing it from home) and tanning oil, etc. and end up abandoning it when they leave, along with half empty hotel shampoos and soap etc. I always rescue all of this stuff, but it boggles my mind when people don't even worry about the waste.

We aren't perfect, but I feel insanely guilty when I don't use groceries or produce and have to toss it and my weekly meal planning goal is always to waste nothing. Anyone else have examples of this in their lives?
I've been pretty strongly anti-waste for my whole life. Apparently I've been the guy who walks around the house and turns off lights in rooms people aren't using, since before I can remember. As I age, and as I notice more and more aspects of my life that don't fit into that pattern, they generally get, uh... "standardized".
DW and I produce more trash than some people here, but we're definitely far below the average neighbor. I got a second recycle bin for high-volume weeks, but our trash bin only goes out every second or third week, usually with one bag, and often the bag is less than full - it just got too smelly to leave inside any longer, or the ants were getting into it.
My Volt will get me through my typical day's driving on battery alone, but I will take the slow, direct route and add 20 minutes or more to my drive home just to avoid running even a few ounces of gas through the backup generator.
And as far as your main point, food? Man, I'll do anything to avoid waste. I eat some pretty nasty shit (not actually rotten, but wilted salad, etc) just to avoid throwing it away. I always take leftovers home, and I come up with pretty creative ways to use them. I'm proud of it.

mm1970

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2015, 02:21:07 PM »
The problem is worse than you think. Watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xwLWb0lLY

Wow, that was good.

mm1970

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #8 on: July 22, 2015, 02:22:00 PM »
For my birthday this week some friends came over with takeout food from Pei Wei. At the end of the night they were talking about who wanted the leftovers and ultimately decided they could just toss it since neither one of them would want to eat the leftovers. I volunteered my husband to eat the leftovers so they wouldn't go to waste. I cannot understand throwing away perfectly good food/money like that.

Similarly when my family visits they always buy snacks, sunscreen (instead of bringing it from home) and tanning oil, etc. and end up abandoning it when they leave, along with half empty hotel shampoos and soap etc. I always rescue all of this stuff, but it boggles my mind when people don't even worry about the waste.

We aren't perfect, but I feel insanely guilty when I don't use groceries or produce and have to toss it and my weekly meal planning goal is always to waste nothing. Anyone else have examples of this in their lives?
But yeah, waste bugs me.  I'm busy cleaning up the office after our 3rd layoff.  I'm in electronics and the amount of waste (paper and electronic) is pretty staggering.

zsmith

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #9 on: July 22, 2015, 03:10:22 PM »
The problem is worse than you think. Watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xwLWb0lLY

Wow! Great segment. There is a group in Phoenix that secures produce that would otherwise go to waste and for a $10 contribution, you get 60 lbs of food.

I also have relatives that ask for take out boxes at restaurants and purposely leave the food on the table because they don't want to appear wasteful but not boxing up the food they don't want to eat.

Hunny156

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #10 on: July 22, 2015, 03:15:10 PM »
It's so sad--people are dumbfounded when I say I have almost zero food waste.  Guess that's not normal?  Very occasionally (because I live on my own and can't eat it all in time) I have to throw away the last few bits of a head of lettuce (if it's gone brown and watery), the tail end of an English cucumber if it gets mouldy/watery, and (rarely) an apple that became rotten (or probably was like that when I bought the bag.)  Every single other thing either gets cooked or chopped and frozen (if I don't think I can eat it in time.)  Waste is weird.  ...No meal planning, I guess?  I don't plan meals a week in advance, but I do plan the current night's if something looks like it could turn soon.

I've run into an odd number of fruits that go bad within 24 hours of getting them home. I recently moved and switched from a local coop to a "big box" grocery store, so maybe that is why. But honestly- raspberries that don't even last one day before being covered in mold? And looked fine when I bought them? I just don't understand. Very frustrating, because I have very little food waste otherwise.

I got Freshvac containers on clearance at Ross recently, and they are so good at extending the life of fruits, especially Raspberries, I went and cleaned out their inventory.  They are a bit pricey if you can't find them at a discount store, but hubby is a heavy berry eater, we buy the big packages at Costco, and this actually works!  Bonus points for them also including a few replacement valve thingies, so if you lose one or it loses suction, you have a few spare parts to make them workable again.  :)

On topic: I too hate waste.  I once went home on my lunch break and made a peach cobbler and a batch of pasta w/fresh tomato sauce, b/c both the peaches and the tomatoes were about to turn.  Back then we had a very laid back manager, so taking a 90 minute lunch was the norm.  Pretty sure my co-workers thought I was nuts, but they also got a freshly cooked meal for lunch, courtesy of my desire to waste not.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #11 on: July 22, 2015, 03:53:51 PM »
It's so sad--people are dumbfounded when I say I have almost zero food waste.  Guess that's not normal?  Very occasionally (because I live on my own and can't eat it all in time) I have to throw away the last few bits of a head of lettuce (if it's gone brown and watery), the tail end of an English cucumber if it gets mouldy/watery, and (rarely) an apple that became rotten (or probably was like that when I bought the bag.)  Every single other thing either gets cooked or chopped and frozen (if I don't think I can eat it in time.)  Waste is weird.  ...No meal planning, I guess?  I don't plan meals a week in advance, but I do plan the current night's if something looks like it could turn soon.

I've run into an odd number of fruits that go bad within 24 hours of getting them home. I recently moved and switched from a local coop to a "big box" grocery store, so maybe that is why. But honestly- raspberries that don't even last one day before being covered in mold? And looked fine when I bought them? I just don't understand. Very frustrating, because I have very little food waste otherwise.

I got Freshvac containers on clearance at Ross recently, and they are so good at extending the life of fruits, especially Raspberries, I went and cleaned out their inventory.  They are a bit pricey if you can't find them at a discount store, but hubby is a heavy berry eater, we buy the big packages at Costco, and this actually works!  Bonus points for them also including a few replacement valve thingies, so if you lose one or it loses suction, you have a few spare parts to make them workable again.  :)

On topic: I too hate waste.  I once went home on my lunch break and made a peach cobbler and a batch of pasta w/fresh tomato sauce, b/c both the peaches and the tomatoes were about to turn.  Back then we had a very laid back manager, so taking a 90 minute lunch was the norm.  Pretty sure my co-workers thought I was nuts, but they also got a freshly cooked meal for lunch, courtesy of my desire to waste not.

What sort of price is reasonable on them? I'm hesitant to buy anything plastic, I'm a glass gal myself.

music lover

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #12 on: July 22, 2015, 04:48:04 PM »
My Volt will get me through my typical day's driving on battery alone, but I will take the slow, direct route and add 20 minutes or more to my drive home just to avoid running even a few ounces of gas through the backup generator.

I hate food waste, but sometimes it can't be avoided. But...you must also place a value your time. Adding 20 minutes to your commute to save 20 cents (the price of a few ounces of gas) means that you have put a price on your free time at 60 cents an hour.

zephyr911

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #13 on: July 23, 2015, 08:21:37 AM »
My Volt will get me through my typical day's driving on battery alone, but I will take the slow, direct route and add 20 minutes or more to my drive home just to avoid running even a few ounces of gas through the backup generator.

I hate food waste, but sometimes it can't be avoided. But...you must also place a value your time. Adding 20 minutes to your commute to save 20 cents (the price of a few ounces of gas) means that you have put a price on your free time at 60 cents an hour.
Yep... that is my entire point. I have such an instinctive aversion to it that I will gladly do that and not once question it - as long as it's not going to put anyone else out.

eyesonthehorizon

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #14 on: July 24, 2015, 08:18:03 AM »
I eat some pretty nasty shit (not actually rotten, but wilted salad, etc) just to avoid throwing it away. I always take leftovers home, and I come up with pretty creative ways to use them. I'm proud of it.
I was going to suggest baking with wilted greens, or making dips - anything where the crunchy structure is no longer a selling point is a great use for limp salad and gets it used.

Almost every scrap of food CAN be used if you care at all and with pretty minimal planning.

I throw the trash out about once every four weeks, mostly to avoid the smell - one half-full kitchen bag - and the recycling goes out maybe every eight, but in double the volume as the trash since it's clean and won't draw bugs. I do not throw out food as a general rule, and things like peels - citrus pith and disintegrating spinach dregs - go down the drain. It's pretty much myself plus the boyfriend half the time in a small apartment. On the whole my eating style (I only buy ingredients) produces very little waste, though it bugs me that you have a whole jug left over after every gallon of milk as I have enough watering cans as it is. I hear in some countries they just package it in a plastic bag...

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #15 on: July 24, 2015, 08:33:57 AM »
I eat some preI hear in some countries they just package it in a plastic bag...

Supermarkets in the UK sell milk in plastic bags which does save on packaging. The problem is, is that it's no cheaper to the end consumer than buying the regular plastic containers.

Money Mouse

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #16 on: July 24, 2015, 09:28:08 AM »
I'm surprised no one has mentioned composting food scraps! If it's too far gone to eat and really enjoy (wilted lettuce is a perfect example) just compost it! Then you have free compost for you flowers/trees/shrubs/veggie garden. You can even do a bit of composting in an apartment, as long as you have an outdoor space, and use the compost on any potted plants you have. Or maybe use the compost to trade for veggies from a person with a home garden, I'd gladly trade extra zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. from my own garden for extra compost!

Erica/NWEdible

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #17 on: July 24, 2015, 09:36:24 AM »
I'm surprised no one has mentioned composting food scraps! If it's too far gone to eat and really enjoy (wilted lettuce is a perfect example) just compost it! Then you have free compost for you flowers/trees/shrubs/veggie garden. You can even do a bit of composting in an apartment, as long as you have an outdoor space, and use the compost on any potted plants you have. Or maybe use the compost to trade for veggies from a person with a home garden, I'd gladly trade extra zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. from my own garden for extra compost!
Yup! In my home there is a hierarchy: people, leftovers/repurposing, small animals (cat, chickens, ducks), small animals (vermicompost), microbes (compost). Pretty much no food gets actually thrown out as garbage. I'll admit with two kids, things like peanut butter sandwich crusts or whatever will sometimes go uneaten, but they never go wasted.

Bracken_Joy

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #18 on: July 24, 2015, 10:23:18 AM »
I'm surprised no one has mentioned composting food scraps! If it's too far gone to eat and really enjoy (wilted lettuce is a perfect example) just compost it! Then you have free compost for you flowers/trees/shrubs/veggie garden. You can even do a bit of composting in an apartment, as long as you have an outdoor space, and use the compost on any potted plants you have. Or maybe use the compost to trade for veggies from a person with a home garden, I'd gladly trade extra zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. from my own garden for extra compost!

Even in an apartment with no outdoor space, as long as I stayed on top of it (ie, things didn't *get* too bad, but I knew they were headed there) I would just freeze and then make broth with them. Obviously doesn't work for brocooli, cabbage, and the like, but was awesome for many things.

Growing up, my family would frequently make "pantry stew" and "fridge chili". (Or maybe the other way around? I don't recall right now) to use up ingredients. In their worst form, food on its way out would become "glop" (a more appropriate name for the gravy style topping for 'shit on a shingle'). Unfortunately, I have swung the other way as a result of being made the use spoiled milk on cereal, eat off flavored meat, etc, as a child, and now I'm obsessive about only eating fresh things. Thank god DH doesn't care as much or I would need a really large compost bin...

music lover

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #19 on: July 24, 2015, 10:33:41 AM »
My Volt will get me through my typical day's driving on battery alone, but I will take the slow, direct route and add 20 minutes or more to my drive home just to avoid running even a few ounces of gas through the backup generator.

I hate food waste, but sometimes it can't be avoided. But...you must also place a value your time. Adding 20 minutes to your commute to save 20 cents (the price of a few ounces of gas) means that you have put a price on your free time at 60 cents an hour.
Yep... that is my entire point. I have such an instinctive aversion to it that I will gladly do that and not once question it - as long as it's not going to put anyone else out.

I find it a shame that you place such a low value on your time. Would you stay at work longer for only 60 cents an hour?

Instead of saving $2 a week by going 20 minutes out of your way (40 minutes a day, 200 minutes a week), why not work those extra 3+ hours a week and earn multiple times what you think you are "saving"?

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #20 on: July 24, 2015, 10:52:47 AM »
I had always tried to reduce my food waste and we have composted all of our fruit/veggie scraps and coffee grounds for as long as I remember, but right up until I retired, I still had some stuff get away from me and have to toss out food that had gone bad. Not often, but it pained me when I forgot to use up something like that. But since I've retired, I have almost zero food waste because I'm more on top of what is in the fridge and what is borderline, and use it up or chop/freeze to avoid items going bad.

I don't peel potatoes or carrots (eat the peels! Mashed potatoes are still tasty with the skins in there!), I save the ends of celery and carrots and such for stock (baggie in the freezer). I throw fruit in the freezer if we can't eat them all before going overripe and we use them for smoothies.

I grew up with a father that laughed at expiration dates and I always look for dented or clearance sections in the store and buy that stuff if I can use it, so I'd like to think I'm keeping some of that out of the garbage as well saving a ton of money. I had a great score recently with dented cans of pumpkin, crushed tomatoes and pasta (the bags were had some cut marks from unboxing, otherwise fine!). As long as the can goods aren't crushed to break the seal, they're still good and I got them for pennies!

I had a bad experience with spoiled milk as a kid (father insisted I drink the "funny tasting" milk, got angry at me when I wouldn't drink all of it, and then finally tasted it himself and realized it had spoiled) so my husband is the official "has it gone off yet?" checker for that, otherwise I'm fine with testing foods/drinks myself. But in general we hardly ever have anything get to that point as I'm also better positioned to plan out our meals and shop accordingly so there's little food coming into the house that isn't used up well before its time.

I like fresh fruits and veggies, but I buy more frozen as I've read that in many cases the frozen stuff might have better nutrient content than the "fresh" fruits and veggies that took weeks to get to the supermarket, and I can keep frozen goods way longer than fresh.


What about the grocery stores that specialize in expired food? I know there are some around my area, and I need to figure out where they are, but I don't understand why more regular stores don't sell their close to expired/past the sell by date stuff instead of throwing it out.


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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #21 on: July 24, 2015, 10:57:26 AM »
One my my biggest pet peeves is when my SO buys shit and it goes bad in the fridge. Makes me livid.

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #22 on: July 24, 2015, 11:00:31 AM »
My Volt will get me through my typical day's driving on battery alone, but I will take the slow, direct route and add 20 minutes or more to my drive home just to avoid running even a few ounces of gas through the backup generator.

I hate food waste, but sometimes it can't be avoided. But...you must also place a value your time. Adding 20 minutes to your commute to save 20 cents (the price of a few ounces of gas) means that you have put a price on your free time at 60 cents an hour.
Yep... that is my entire point. I have such an instinctive aversion to it that I will gladly do that and not once question it - as long as it's not going to put anyone else out.

I find it a shame that you place such a low value on your time. Would you stay at work longer for only 60 cents an hour?

Instead of saving $2 a week by going 20 minutes out of your way (40 minutes a day, 200 minutes a week), why not work those extra 3+ hours a week and earn multiple times what you think you are "saving"?

I don't think the point for him is the money, though.  It's more about the environment.  It's not saving 20 cents, it's saving a half ton of CO2 emissions (or whatever it is) over the course of a year.

Additionally, a lot of people don't view commute time as completely wasted.  It's about the only time I get to listen to my books on tape and that's something I definitely enjoy.

mm1970

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #23 on: July 24, 2015, 11:14:12 AM »
My Volt will get me through my typical day's driving on battery alone, but I will take the slow, direct route and add 20 minutes or more to my drive home just to avoid running even a few ounces of gas through the backup generator.

I hate food waste, but sometimes it can't be avoided. But...you must also place a value your time. Adding 20 minutes to your commute to save 20 cents (the price of a few ounces of gas) means that you have put a price on your free time at 60 cents an hour.
Yep... that is my entire point. I have such an instinctive aversion to it that I will gladly do that and not once question it - as long as it's not going to put anyone else out.

I find it a shame that you place such a low value on your time. Would you stay at work longer for only 60 cents an hour?

Instead of saving $2 a week by going 20 minutes out of your way (40 minutes a day, 200 minutes a week), why not work those extra 3+ hours a week and earn multiple times what you think you are "saving"?
The one complaint I have about this comment (and ones like them here and on other message boards) -

I am salaried.  Many people I know are salaried.  We cannot just "work an extra XX" and make more money.

The only way for me to "work extra 3 hours" (which, with kids, I'm not going to do anyway) would be to get a part time job or have a side hustle.  And I don't have a side hustle, nor do I currently have the time/ interest to develop one right now.  Any extra time I have is spent trying to exercise, sleep, or play with my kids.

mm1970

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #24 on: July 24, 2015, 11:18:07 AM »
One my my biggest pet peeves is when my SO buys shit and it goes bad in the fridge. Makes me livid.
I do nearly all the grocery shopping.

But occasionally my spouse will do it if I don't have time.

One time, he brought home a watermelon that was not on the list.  "It looked good."  "The boys like watermelon."  I gave him the stink-eye.

6 days later, there's the watermelon, STILL NOT CUT UP.  Seriously.  I do most of the cooking and food prep as is it, and I am NOT adding another chore.  You bought it, you cut it!!  He did.  Eventually.

I also have to ask him to stop putting leftovers in opaque leftover containers, because then I don't know what's in there.

zephyr911

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #25 on: July 24, 2015, 01:51:27 PM »
I find it a shame that you place such a low value on your time. Would you stay at work longer for only 60 cents an hour?

Instead of saving $2 a week by going 20 minutes out of your way (40 minutes a day, 200 minutes a week), why not work those extra 3+ hours a week and earn multiple times what you think you are "saving"?
Added: Just to be clear, this is a rare occurrence. Most days I drive normally and don't run out of juice. It's maybe 1-2x/mo.

I'm already making more than enough money between my fed job and side gigs. The steady increase in my SR% is more easily continued by simply cutting costs than trying to earn more. I also place a very high value on cultivating an unhurried mindset. Slowing down and not rushing down the quickest path to every destination helps reduce stress and gives me time to think about plans and strategy.

I don't pretend that a tiny difference in consumption changes the future for humanity, but I do believe that cultivating a particular mindset (namely, that small choices are important, and add up to big changes) makes us better able to pursue our goals with resolve and dedication. That resolve and dedication will be worth as much to me as my entire investment portfolio when I reach FI.

So, all that is to say, when I read "any kind of waste kills me", I KNOW. Money is peripheral.
« Last Edit: July 24, 2015, 01:54:41 PM by zephyr911 »

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #26 on: July 24, 2015, 03:37:21 PM »
Try composting and gardening! Then nothing is ever 100% wasted.

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zephyr911

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #27 on: July 27, 2015, 08:44:45 AM »
Try composting and gardening! Then nothing is ever 100% wasted.

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I've been working on that one the past year. I'm not very good at gardening (it's more of a time and attention thing than a skill issue) but we have mint, basil and arugula going successfully now and are looking to expand once we've reduced the near-100% tree shade somewhat. We've also been composting most of our organic waste, a learning experience in itself. Between that and recycling religiously, our trash production rate is lower than ever. Feels good.

Related: friend's going-away party had lower than expected turnout on Saturday night, and there was probably $100 worth of food in danger of going to waste. We graciously offered to "help with the problem" and will probably avoid cooking for at least three days... hehe :D

The haul included chicken wings, pasta salad, potato salad, cold cuts, pie, cake, and assorted olives and pickled veggies. Wow.

ChaseJuggler

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #28 on: July 27, 2015, 08:48:05 AM »
Try composting and gardening! Then nothing is ever 100% wasted.

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I've been working on that one the past year. I'm not very good at gardening (it's more of a time and attention thing than a skill issue) but we have mint, basil and arugula going successfully now and are looking to expand once we've reduced the near-100% tree shade somewhat. We've also been composting most of our organic waste, a learning experience in itself. Between that and recycling religiously, our trash production rate is lower than ever. Feels good.

Related: friend's going-away party had lower than expected turnout on Saturday night, and there was probably $100 worth of food in danger of going to waste. We graciously offered to "help with the problem" and will probably avoid cooking for at least three days... hehe :D

The haul included chicken wings, pasta salad, potato salad, cold cuts, pie, cake, and assorted olives and pickled veggies. Wow.
That's awesome! We have been super impressed with how easy composting is. No matter how much crap we throw in there, it's always gone 48 hours later!

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zephyr911

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #29 on: July 27, 2015, 08:57:25 AM »
Ours isn't really working that well... I think the high ratio of pine needles is affecting it. That, and I'm forever forgetting to turn it. I finally just got a pitchfork, which may help.

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #30 on: July 27, 2015, 09:10:21 AM »
Glad people compost, but some simply use it for guilt relief for the tons of food they failed to plan for properly.  I also notice a lot of people are very sloppy in their trimming, acting like a bit of bruised vegetable or  fat on a piece of meat is malignant or something.   We aim for 0% edible (or formerly edible) waste and usually hit it.  All of our non-edible food waste is fed to the chickens or pig.  I remember having a smelly trash can as a kid, now our trash rarely smells bad.   

zephyr911

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Re: Food waste (any kind of waste) kills me
« Reply #31 on: July 27, 2015, 09:14:45 AM »
Glad people compost, but some simply use it for guilt relief for the tons of food they failed to plan for properly.  I also notice a lot of people are very sloppy in their trimming, acting like a bit of bruised vegetable or  fat on a piece of meat is malignant or something.   We aim for 0% edible (or formerly edible) waste and usually hit it.  All of our non-edible food waste is fed to the chickens or pig.  I remember having a smelly trash can as a kid, now our trash rarely smells bad.
We're pretty much just putting coffee grounds and inedible rinds/peelings in the pile. I check the fridge every day and plan meals around what needs to be used up (or frozen). We haven't set up a way to keep the dogs out of the pile, so things like chicken bones still go in the trash.

 

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