There is a lot of waste in the world. We consume so much and throw much of it away, often to make room for new things we keep buying. A lot of metals and plastic ends up in landfills that keep growing. And these material don't decompose fast at all. So much food is also wasted and thrown out by food markets, and by ourselves at home who either let it go to waste, or don't eat all the food we prepare or order.
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When going out to a restaurant, some people have different behavior. True, at home and in a restaurant you are paying for the food, but in a restaurant you pay more, like 3 to 5 times more for food that you could make yourself. Maybe that fact that we spend more on something makes us more aware and conscious of our waste and not want to waste the money spent by wasting food we paid a lot for.
I think when someone has a lot of money, they tend to not care either way. They have so much money that it doesn't matter to them what is bought or wasted. It's obviously not a rule, and there are surely some wealthy people who don't like to splurge and waste money or throw away what they buy.
Then there is all the technology that people throw away each year, just to buy the newest tech that came out. What a waste that is. The old phone still works. It may be a year or a few years old, but there is nothing wrong with it. The allure to buy the hottest new gadget is strong in our consumerist society. We're mind controlled (in a way) to buy more and waste more.
How does our behavior change when we think of the money we're spending? Does it affect you? It affects me. I'm somewhat cheap and frugal. I don't like to waste money when I can spend less. I prefer to make food that costs me so much less than going to a restaurant. I don't let any food spoil. I eat all the cooked food. I don't leave anything on my plate when I eat either, and the dishes look "almost" clean ;)
Back in April when I went on a bike trip with my partner for a week, we stayed at a strangers place that offers a night-stay for bikers. It was free. We found it through the website Warm Showers. He was a nice guy who has done biking trips in France and Europe.
One thing that struck me, that I've seen in other forms in society, is the lack of concern for waste as long as one isn't paying for it. When I do the dishes, I drip the water pretty much, and don't use much water. It's part of my frugal minimalist way of living where I'm a "conservative" about what I do. I don't want to waste food, water, toilet paper, you name it.
I was doing the dishes after my partner and I made food, and he noticed how I don't use much water. His remark was that it's free, so don't worry about not using the free water. Since he doesn't pay for it, he didn't care about it being wasted.
It's not really free, as taxes are used to filter water in a municipality and provide clean drinking water for people's homes. And water is an important resource we shouldn't be wasting. I do my part to not try to not waste what I can avoid wasting. To only use what is needed.
This attitude of ignorance to waste and not being consciously aware of waste is disconcerting to me. We waste so much of our resources. Sometimes we're conscious of it, but it doesn't bother us for the most part because we keep getting money to keep the movement going, to keep the consumerism going, to keep the wheel of "progress" rolling. And when we're not footing the bill, when things are perceived to be "free", then we care even less about the waste of a resource.
There are probably poor people who waste too, but I think if everyone was poor then there would be less waste, lol. Alternatively, the better way is for everyone to be more conscious and aware of wasteful behavior and reduce their waste through conscious awareness and the will to do so.
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
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I love this post. Waste is a serious issue that is consistently overlooked. I also have a low waste and minimalist attitude. People don’t realize that their mindset regarding waste is very damaging to the environment and we only have one planet.
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its great connecting with minimalists @kaylinart and you can check out what @thegreens and @ecodesigns are doing with respect to waste management and environmental protection
Yup, we aren't conscious of what we're doing in the aggregate. One spaceship earth hurling through space, we should be better caretakers of our homes :/
Too true; the waste that people do every day is awful. One of the biggest frustrations is looking at the healthcare industry’s waste. Everything is wrapped in single use plastic. Things that are sterile are one thing but there are countless other materials that just get thrown in the garbage. I can only hope that it gets recycled but I somehow doubt it. One of the places I worked now recycles everything it can but it took me two years of keeping after people to finally understand it and keep it going. They had recycle bins in each of their rooms but that’s only one small section of a massive healthcare system. I would like to know some numbers behind the waste in it!
One thing I am trying to get more people to do is compost their scraps. It’s easy to just save them and toss them in some woods for the animals and bugs or even a couple trees, there are things that will eat it all almost anywhere!
Yeah. So much is wrapped in plastic, waste on land and even worse in water like the ocean. I compost all that isn't eaten as food for meals, I'm vegan. A small brown compost bin each week. Recycling bin each week. And garbage bag once every 2 months. And that's cause of styrofoam and some plastic that sin't recycled like plastic wrap when buying food.
Ah vegan is tough. We are mostly vegetarian (my wife is 100% vegetarian, she is grossed out by meat, I eat it occasionally but do not seek it out) but I couldn’t commit to vegan. I buy products that aren’t tested on animals and stay away from animal fleece stuff but I can’t completely remove dairy from my life lol it’s difficult!
This is a genuine problem, and I personally believe the current modus vivendi is somewhat irresponsible and does not have the slightest sense of belonging for the planet and its nature.
We need a change, and I think the change happens precisely because of how we face our lives and the way we relate to everything that influences the environment, what you say is fine, save water, waste little, if we all do that the change will be important, little by little people are beginning to reflect on this.
The big transformations are carried out by taking a small step every day.
Yup, small steps by the majority lead to big changes ;)
right you're
sometimes people are too careless with things and resources they have (money, food, clothes etc)
I hate spending more when I can spend less;) it's our common feauture;)
when I overpay, I feel like being a fool.
Money should be saved not because it's money, but because it's TIME of our life, we spent to earn it. And time itself is priceless.
Yup, money comes from time in the natural way of economics. But some ppl like to play money games where money comes from doing no work at all (passive income). I think the world is imbalances because of this money-game trickery that allows some to do nothing and make money simply because they have money.
-- The human does not need a clean planet to be conscious, but the planet needs a conscious human to be a clean planet!... --
Sure.
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Awesome quote that says it all @yagoub
Sounds right ;)
I don't really believe in waste as a concept, waste is just an underutilized resource. Back in the day gasoline was a waste product of the refining process. So called "food waste" can be composted and used to grow new food. Water is infinitely recyclable. So are most if not all of the materials in electronic devices. The landfills of today will be gold mines in the future.
They somewhat already are in some areas. We have a mission place that takes old computers and rehabs them for the poor and our city has a place you can drop off electronics, they have some deal with people who come pick them up, they either fix and sell them or tear them down for parts which decreases the amount being thrown away. They also implemented a burn to energy center using the best technology to capture burn off waste. This will come in handy now that China has stopped accepting recyclable's from the US because of to much contamination, that created a huge dump on prices and demand.
there are some facilities that crush up and extract all the valuable metals and such from electronics. There are some recycled materials that are not all that useful or worthwhile to recycle.
Some things are made and can't be reused or recycled, like styrofoam and other oil-based products.
Styrofoam and other plastics can be recycled.
http://www.all-recycling-facts.com/recycling-styrofoam.html
Its a thing of the mind, I think. Some people are the contrary... too stingy! The both ends are bad; wastefulness and being stingy.
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Maybe ;) But stingy doesn't get the planet rekt ;)
One should know what to keep, recycle or waste. Keeping what is not needed all the time has negative effects now and later. Discarding of things you should keep or recycle also has negative effects in the short and long runs. Creating a fair balance is man's challenge, he has to know when his balance is right.
Both cases of conservativeness and wastefulness have their positive and negative effects on the planet in the short and long runs... I assure you.
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One should know what to keep, recycle or waste. Keeping what is not needed all the time has negative effects now and later. Discarding of things you should keep or recycle also has negative effects in the short and long runs. Creating a fair balance is man's challenge, he has to know when his balance is right.
Both cases of conservativeness and wastefulness have their positive and negative effects on the planet in the short and long runs... I assure you.
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I've read that their is real "worms" that eat plastic)) It's not so bad))
Yup, bacteria I think too. but they aren't everywhere doing the job to help us... the oceans are being overrun and plastic is killing...
There is 'No Away' for things to be thrown. We need to develop a cradle to cradle strategy for everything we consume. Consumer electronics need to be up-gradable, rather than being designed for planned obsolescence. We need to greatly reduce our consumption of single use plastic items.
It drives me crazy when people mindlessly run the tap while brushing their teeth or shaving, as if the water was an endless resource. I do all that I can to minimize my consumption.
Yeah, it's mindless unthinking behavior :/
Not everything can be though, as certain parts are manufactured and aren't the same required in new technology that's smaller or more functionally designed to perform better.
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Well, here is some good news. Some of the newer plastics are made to break down much faster than the old plastics.
This is exquisite work.
"Wasting food" some call it when dining and not forcing oneself to eat everything? Now that is a waste, to ruin dinner to save money. Money is supposed to be spent (saved then spent). Things are supposed to be used and consumed.
Trash heaps don't just gather in and around poverty stricken communities b/c the wealthy export their trash there. The poor waste more - not in terms of food and bare essentials - but in every other way. Per capita certainly the 1% produce vastly more trash. But go to India, for example, and the poor live in their own trash. The wasteful behavior is due more to ignorance than attitude (which is the problem with the wealthy that could not care less). But it does not negate the reality that the poor produce tons of trash yet have all the reason to be frugal, not waste, and recycle.
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