Waste

[psychocat]

On a scale from 1 to 10 how wasteful do you think you are ?
I waste a lot of electricity.
In the years to come as the population of the world increases the available resources are going to dwindle and waste will be a thing of the past.
Enjoy the time of plenty because it's gonna get nasty...

psychocat Reviewed by psychocat on 07-09-2008. Waste On a scale from 1 to 10 how wasteful do you think you are ? I waste a lot of electricity. In the years to come as the population of the world increases the available resources are going to dwindle and waste will be a thing of the past. Enjoy the time of plenty because it's gonna get nasty... :D Rating: 5

[psychocat]

Letters: More tips for cutting food waste | Environment | The Guardian

Forgot the news link

[dragonrider]

I think I am on the less wasteful end of the scale by American standards (which is not sayng much).

My wife and I eat almost every single piece of food we buy. Very very little is not eaten. Also, I have several different composting systems that I use to recycle almost all food waste into usable comopst, so even if it is not eaten, it is not thrown away. I can process all the inedible trimmings off of fruits and vegetables that you make when you are cooking, and I can also process food that has spoiled, cooked food, even meat and cheese, into usable compost. The only food-related items I cannot process at home are things like bones, or very greasy items, or things that have really putrified --- however my municipal garbage service provides a green "organics" bin for that material, and they compost it in an industrial composting facility. So even that portion does not truly go to waste --- it goes to fertilize California crops.

I also recycle almost all of my yard waste into compost as well. The only yard waste that I do not compost here and reuse on site is weeds that have gone to seed, diseased plants, and very large woody items that are too large for me to chip up here on site. However, all of that stuff that I cannot process goes into the green bin as well and is composted at an industrial site.

I am also an aggressive recycler. My wife calls it "pawing through the garbage." Believe me, nothing gets thrown in the garbage if it can be recycled. And if it does inadvertently end up there, I pull it out when I fill the bins on garbage night. This city has a great recycling program, and you can throw all your paper, glass, metal cans, aluminum foil, and plastics of different types into one recycling bin, and it is all sorted at the transfer station and recycled.

The biggest challenge was what to do with the nasty used kleenex, used paper towels and paper napkins, and food-stained paper, like paper plates and pizza boxes. Well, that can all go into the "organics" bin now too, and it gets recycled into compost, believe it or not. So now I gather all that crap too.

Each week, all of the unusable garbage that my wife and I generate fits into one plastic shopping bag. It is probably less than a half a cubic foot and consists mostly of unrecycleable plastics. That's it. That one bag is all that goes into the landfill from this house on a typical week. The only exception is when something unusual happens and we buy something that comes in a lot of packaging. Around Christmas there is always a lot of styrofoam that I haven't figured out what to do with yet.

[bytesbull]

I'm to poor to waste, lol....

use my grant money for college ... keep my best "dame" for my plants.... I WILL NEVER PAY FOR POT AGAIN!!! HMUAHAHAHAAH

[epilepticme]

The majority of Americans are very wasteful, it's our way of life.
Some of us strive to change habits and even then are still consumers.
I think myself a responsible human always trying to make smart choices. However great
the intent I still find myself wasteful

[stinkyattic]

I try very hard to live in the least wasteful manner possible, but I feel that I could still be doing better. I dream of a day when I can actually take the bus to work, which is a half hour by car, but is currently over 2 hours with 2 transfers by bus. I'm an aggressive re-user, and recycler too of course. I buy foods that keep well, such as rice, dried beans, canned tomatoes, hard cheeses, and frozen vegetables when I can't get what I want in season. But I look at my living arrangements, which is about to go from 3 people in a 2200 square foot house, to just myself and my dog, and say, yup! That is wasteful! But the ability to live a wasteful life IMO is and always has been a symbol of economic status, and the nice house has been something I've worked hard for and considering giving it up for a smaller but more sustainable situation like an apartment just isn't happening. What's a good Democrat to do?

[dragonrider]

What's a good Democrat to do?

The most important things are to take the steps that you can, which it sounds like you do. I don't think anyone would expect you to give up your house or take a 2-hour bus ride instead of 1/2 hour in the car.

I try to do what I can but still have plenty of waste or lifestyle choices that are wasteful. One example, I've got a hot tub that stays hot 24 hours a day, even if I only use it a couple times a week. That is not really efficient, but that is how the machine is built to work, and I like it enough I'm not getting rid of it.

What I cannot stand is the gross and thoughtless waste that is built into almost everything we do in our society. You mentioned your house. Everyone loves their house. I know I love mine and would never give it up. And a house is part of what we expect in our society. But what is it with the huge over-the-top McMasnion phenomenon? I see these developments popping up all over the place with ENORMOUS homes that are far larger than anyone needs. I think people have an idea that this is what they want, but I do not think it makes people happier to have these things. They get on the hook for mortgages they can't afford. And then they have to pay that much more to furnish, heat, and clean twice as much area as they need. It's not just the waste of the big place itself, it's the ongoing waste built into keeping it up.

I think if people were to examine their choices more and think about what really makes them happy, they would make different choices. Is the huge expensive house going to make you happy, or is it more about expressing your status and impressing others? Same for the big expensive car. Our house is fairly small by some standards, but we saved a lot of money over buying something bigger than we needed. Now we've had the money to really make it what we want. We've put in nice landscaping and a nice kitchen, both of which really add to our enjoyment of life. It's for us, not to impress anyone. And we would not have been able to afford it if we had bought a bigger house or if we bought new cars more often.

[psychocat]

It's the little things that you don't really think about.
I am the only person awake at the moment and I am using the PC (which I never switch off) , the TV is playing in the background and there are lights burning that don't really need to be on. I also have about a dozen things on standby rather than switched off at the socket , but in my defense if I unplugged my video or DVD player I would have to reprogramme the machine when I plug them back in.
The only purpose for the kitchen light being on is to attract moths for my cats to chase.

I suppose if I got a report for energy efficiency it would read :
Could do better.

[dragonrider]

Yes, the little things do add up.

The standby mode thing is built into EVERYTHING these days. I don't turn things off at the socket either for the exact reason you are talking about, but most of this stuff does not need to be on standby --- it's just made that way, and there is not much choice.

One example: I needed a new coffee maker the other day. The last one I had worked for nearly 20 years. All it had was a switch that you would slide from "on" to "off" and back. When it was off, it was off. Now you can't buy a coffee maker like that. They all have some kind of clock, timer, or other programable feature. When I turn off this coffee maker it still draws electricity because it has a clock to keep running, the LCD display for the clock, and a super-bright blue LED that is actually cool looking but almost painfully bright to look at and which serves no useful purpose whatsoever. I would just unplug it, but that is a pain in the ass, and it means that the clock will come up blinking when I plug it back in. I don't really care if my coffee pot knows what time it is, but I can't stand a blinking clock or one that is displaying the WRONG time. To me, all of this stuff is a waste. I do not need the clock, or the ability to program the pot, or the blue LED, so all of that was a waste to even manufacture in the first place. And now there is the ongoing waste of keeping all the features I don't want or need running all day and all night long.

[psychocat]

Oh Dragon man , I get right where you're coming from . :thumbsup: