23 replies to this topic

[Jessi]

As much as I hate doing dishes myself, it really drives me bonkers when my boyfriend does it.

Why? Because he leaves the water running almost the entire time. He has it running in the other sink so that while he washes things in one sink, he can just rinse them immediately in the other. The only time he really turns it off is while he's scrubbing a difficult pan. And he's the kind of guy who is *very* thorough with his washing, so every little piece otherwise gets washed much longer than I would, ha.

Coming from a family where I would get grounded if I left the water running while I brushed my teeth, I cringe every time I hear the water running for an excessive amount of time.

What wasteful things do people do that drive you up the wall?

[iebo]

I can't stand it when people don't eat all their dinner and just throw it away. Wasted food pisses me off. My aunt helps out her church which collects food from local businesses that would otherwise be thrown out. Then it gets distributed to homeless shelters. I always used to take leftover food from pot lucks at the office too.

[mariaandrea]

Wasted food is a pet peeve. Also, when my kids were younger they would stand in front of the refrigerator with the door wide open for minutes at a time. Drove me nuts! It's a huge energy waster. When they got older and got jobs I told them they would have to pay the electric bill. When they say how much that first one was they suddenly found all sorts of ways to conserve energy! Seriously. No one stands with the refrigerator door open any more.

[Jessi]

Lol Maria! That's a great idea and I'm glad they finally figured out why they shouldn't just stand there with the doors open.

And I agree with both of you about wasted food. I hate going to buffets and seeing people pile their plates high with tons of food. The only thing worse than seeing someone actually polish off that amount of food (oh my), is seeing them throw half of it away instead. So wasteful. :(

[jasserEnv]

Speaking of washing dishes, my wife drives me nuts because she uses so much soap. I have tried to explain that the soap doesn't actually clean the dishes, it only changes the surface tension of the water aiding the cleaning action so after adding a small amount of soap, it is no longer providing any benefit. Of course, her threat is that I can wash the dishes myself so I capitulate because I am already the one cooking the meals in the house and don't want to take over the dishes too.

[mariaandrea]

Jessi, on 16 February 2012 - 07:55 PM, said:

Lol Maria! That's a great idea and I'm glad they finally figured out why they shouldn't just stand there with the doors open.

And I agree with both of you about wasted food. I hate going to buffets and seeing people pile their plates high with tons of food. The only thing worse than seeing someone actually polish off that amount of food (oh my), is seeing them throw half of it away instead. So wasteful. :(

I figured since they're now 19 and 21 and we all live together and they're working (part time low-paying jobs) they could start to pay their way. They have friends who pay their parents "rent" but I want them to save up. It really is amazing how differently they see the world now that they have to pay for things! They always recycled, but that really turned them green overnight! ;)

jasserEnv, on 16 February 2012 - 09:20 PM, said:

Speaking of washing dishes, my wife drives me nuts because she uses so much soap. I have tried to explain that the soap doesn't actually clean the dishes, it only changes the surface tension of the water aiding the cleaning action so after adding a small amount of soap, it is no longer providing any benefit. Of course, her threat is that I can wash the dishes myself so I capitulate because I am already the one cooking the meals in the house and don't want to take over the dishes too.

Oh yes! That gets me too. And the more soap there is on the dishes the longer it takes to rinse them and the more water is used. Another thing my kids didn't get until I made them shop for groceries once a month and made sure that some of the household necessities were on their list that they used to waste until they saw the cost.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Water.
Especially here in drought stricken Texas. Apartment complexes and golf courses water like they live next to
a bottomless lake. Once a week or so, fine-but every day?

[Jessi]

mariaandrea, on 16 February 2012 - 09:33 PM, said:

jasserEnv, on 16 February 2012 - 09:20 PM, said:

Speaking of washing dishes, my wife drives me nuts because she uses so much soap. I have tried to explain that the soap doesn't actually clean the dishes, it only changes the surface tension of the water aiding the cleaning action so after adding a small amount of soap, it is no longer providing any benefit. Of course, her threat is that I can wash the dishes myself so I capitulate because I am already the one cooking the meals in the house and don't want to take over the dishes too.

Oh yes! That gets me too. And the more soap there is on the dishes the longer it takes to rinse them and the more water is used. Another thing my kids didn't get until I made them shop for groceries once a month and made sure that some of the household necessities were on their list that they used to waste until they saw the cost.

Yes, yes, yes, me too. The boyfriend always dumps in the soap until it's extremely bubbly. Somehow, he uses enough soap that it even stays that bubbly the entire time he washes dishes. >< And you're right about how that means even more water needed to rinse it, but hey, considering mine leaves the water running the whole time anyway, I guess that's already a problem regardless. :(

Also, because I don't use nearly as much soap (I still get bubbles, but they fade after a while of washing and doesn't look like a huge bubble bath), he's actually commented more than once on how I'm not going to get them clean. I use the same trick as your wife, jasser, and tell him he can do them himself then (although secretly hoping he won't call me out on it because I know how wasteful he'll be, heh). That usually shuts him up.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Advice? Buy a bigger set of boots-and kick them to the curb.

[Sandra Piddock]

I hate to see people wasting gas by driving fast and then hitting the brake at roundabouts and junctions. If you drive sensibly, you hardly ever need to brake. I've managed to drive 500 miles across Spain and only used the brakes twice, apart from when I stopped for a break. I suppose that's why I get 60 - 70mpg. I put about 50 Euros ($66) worth of gas in the car every 6 weeks, unless we're going on a long run.

[Jessi]

Here's another one that gets me. People who buy multiples of the smallest size option of a product (specifically food), instead of just buying the  bigger or bulk sizes. Why go through and waste all the packaging if you're able to blow through that much of the same food in the first place? Just buy the bigger size and use it as normal or refill the smaller bottles or canisters you already have if you prefer it in a smaller "convenience size."

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Jessi, on 18 February 2012 - 07:32 PM, said:

Here's another one that gets me. People who buy multiples of the smallest size option of a product (specifically food), instead of just buying the  bigger or bulk sizes. Why go through and waste all the packaging if you're able to blow through that much of the same food in the first place? Just buy the bigger size and use it as normal or refill the smaller bottles or canisters you already have if you prefer it in a smaller "convenience size."

Producers that employ that tactic drive me nuts too. Individually wrapped prunes (as advertised lately) is one example.
(I guess they are targeting the lazy folks that won't take the time to put several pieces in a food bag to be consumed
later.)
Hershey's kisses have always been bad in that regard. (not to mention the palm oil used, but that's another thread.)

[Jessi]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 19 February 2012 - 04:21 AM, said:

Producers that employ that tactic drive me nuts too. Individually wrapped prunes (as advertised lately) is one example.
(I guess they are targeting the lazy folks that won't take the time to put several pieces in a food bag to be consumed
later.)
Hershey's kisses have always been bad in that regard. (not to mention the palm oil used, but that's another thread.)

Ugh, yes, I hadn't even thought about Hershey kisses, but you're right. I remember doing a dessert using a whole bag of them last year and was shocked at the whole bowl worth of little foil wrappers I was left with. I let the kids go and build things out of them, but that didn't exactly make me feel any better about all the waste.

And as for the first bit, it was really bad a few years back when "100 calorie packs" were all the rage. It was half the amount of product, in 10x as much packaging, because they had tiny amounts in little single-serving bags. Bleh!

[MakingCents]

Some of the individual packaging is necessary these days due to regulations.  For instance, at the preschool I work at the parents take turns sending in snacks.  Due to food allergies and the fact that we live in a world were NOBODY can be trusted, everything sent in has to be in it's original sealed packaging.  So for instance, if you want to send prunes to your child's class and there were 8 children, you could send 8 individually wrapped prunes instead of the entire bag and save the rest for your family- instead of the school throwing away what they don't use.

On the subject of wasted food- it drives me nuts that EVERYTHING is coming in bulk now.  For things that don't spoil that's a perfect solution to reduce packaging, but take bread for instance.  We aren't bread eaters, we probably use half a loaf of bread every 2 weeks.  But you can only buy bread as a full loaf and it only lasts a week or so (I know you can freeze it but our freezer is FULL of veggies, meat etc.  Like, we have to bungee the freezer door closed!    So we're faced with the decision to either not have bread or waste a half a loaf every time we buy it.

But yes I agree, if you are buing those little individual serving only for convenience it's a major waste of packaging AND money.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

MakingCents, on 19 February 2012 - 07:11 PM, said:

Some of the individual packaging is necessary these days due to regulations.  For instance, at the preschool I work at the parents take turns sending in snacks.  Due to food allergies and the fact that we live in a world were NOBODY can be trusted, everything sent in has to be in it's original sealed packaging.  So for instance, if you want to send prunes to your child's class and there were 8 children, you could send 8 individually wrapped prunes instead of the entire bag and save the rest for your family- instead of the school throwing away what they don't use.

On the subject of wasted food- it drives me nuts that EVERYTHING is coming in bulk now.  For things that don't spoil that's a perfect solution to reduce packaging, but take bread for instance.  We aren't bread eaters, we probably use half a loaf of bread every 2 weeks.  But you can only buy bread as a full loaf and it only lasts a week or so (I know you can freeze it but our freezer is FULL of veggies, meat etc.  Like, we have to bungee the freezer door closed! So we're faced with the decision to either not have bread or waste a half a loaf every time we buy it.

But yes I agree, if you are buying those little individual serving only for convenience it's a major waste of packaging AND money.

A bit pricier but buy rolls from a bakery instead. You can buy what you need instead of a whole loaf.

[zararina]

I also get irritated when someone at home was washing dishes and clothes using running water for a longer period of time throughout the washing process. I am the one paying for the water bill and so I am really affected. LOL
It was such a waste of money and water as we know that clean water can be scarce as fast as more people will not be concerned about wastage of it.

[Guardian]

Golf courses. I have become absolutely against golf courses and anything that has ANYTHING to do with the golf industry. So many golf courses so close together. For one they waste so much water while trying to keep their courses all green, another they have to burn fossil fuels maintaining the pristine condition of their courses. The biggest factor is that the land they are using would serve the world a much better purpose as forest or woodland, not sitting their as empty grass for some old men to waste time.

[MakingCents]

Shortpoet-GTD, on 20 February 2012 - 03:31 AM, said:

A bit pricier but buy rolls from a bakery instead. You can buy what you need instead of a whole loaf.

That's a good idea until I can convince a bakery to make me a half  a loaf of bread at a time :)

[Hysssss-teria]

Guardian, on 20 February 2012 - 03:59 PM, said:

Golf courses. I have become absolutely against golf courses and anything that has ANYTHING to do with the golf industry. So many golf courses so close together. For one they waste so much water while trying to keep their courses all green, another they have to burn fossil fuels maintaining the pristine condition of their courses. The biggest factor is that the land they are using would serve the world a much better purpose as forest or woodland, not sitting their as empty grass for some old men to waste time.

Yes, thank you -- I’ve always had it in for those courses, too. I wouldn’t mind so much if they didn’t overdo so much with the water, but I don’t think they’ll change that.

We live in Navy townhouses, and they provide dishwashers (which I’m not crazy about). But they insist that you use these appliances. Of course, the measuring cups for soap are exact, so there’s really no way you can overdose it. I guess that’s a plus. They also equip garbage disposals, which require running water while in use to flush them -- but it does cut down on some household waste and plastic garbage bags going to the landfills.

It’s hard to say which I think I hate more -- wasted water or wasted food. My mother is only likely to eat a wee bit of a steak or pork chop. So when she’s through with her dinner, she gives it to our very overweight DOG !!! (I use leftovers for making husband’s lunch the next day.)

The electricity and water are included in one monthly rent payment here. So my mom turns every light on in the house, lets water run, leaves the TV on in her room, turns the TV on downstairs, turns the radio on and mutes it while she watches TV, stands in front of the open fridge or freezer, etc. (Ummm, seems to me we weren’t allowed to do any of those things when I was a kid, though.) So I walk around behind her turning stuff off several times daily. “We don’t have to pay for it,” is her feeling. “Well -- SOMEBODY is paying for it!” is my answer. (It doesn’t do any good to point out environmental issues because she doesn’t believe that there are any! But that’s a whole ’nother department.)

I have to fight her every inch of the way in my efforts to reduce/reuse/recycle. She says it’s a crock, refuses to participate -- and gives me all kinds of flack for doing it. I feel like everything I do is in vain. *sigh* Well, I guess maybe it’s a good thing that I do it -- maybe it will counter-balance somebody who doesn’t.

[visionrafael84]

My biggest pet peeves is when I'm out in public and there is a garbage and recycling bin right next to each other!!! I'm not sure if I even have to go into detail to this, but just annoys me when others never even put in alittle bit of effort.