Our Throw Away World....

Have you ever really sat down and thought about all the absolute waste we have in our everyday lives.  I was cleaing out my cabinets being annoyed by how many empty cardboard containers my family leaves there.  So when you are looking for things you are out of before going to the store you don't know that you are really out.  Well this is why I picked this topic today ......

So I make lunch and I go to get crackers ..... EMPTY box ..... I go to get a soda in the frig .... EMPTY 12pack container ..... Want cereal .... get it in the bowl .... TWO DROPS of milk left in the gallon .... does anyone else feel my pain?? 

So as I'm throwing out the empty containers .... and walking through the house ....cleaning up after the children .... (as you'll remember from my earlier rants)  who must have some mental defect that does not allow them to return dishes and trash to their rightful place.  Reverse alzheimer's maybe .... we will hope they are cured by adulthood or else we'll be caring for the for the rest of their lives .....

Anyway .... so have you really looked at the things that we are throwing away on a daily basis.  I have to pour out on average 1/2 of all the soda cans that the kids (and my husband is guilty of this too) leave sitting around all over.  Then there is the food I cook ... and I admit I don't cook alot anymore ... because my children are not home enough to eat a real dinner .... they want to run in and grab something quick.  If I have cooked dinner .... inevitably they come and and say they've gotten something out or they've eaten at someone else's house .... (note to self : I've got to do a post on cooking and food ... so many stories to delve into there) ..... So there I sit .... putting food into containers to be lost in the back of the frig never to be found again .... well that is until about a month later and you ignore the container on purpose because you don't want to have to open it and look to see what it used to be.  I have 3 of these containers in the refrigerator as I'm typing this.  Yes, I will throw it out ..... probably the bowls and all ..... thank goodness for those reusable containers that come with the Hillshire Farms deli meats ...... sorry .... digression has occurred...... back on subject...

So .... other things I throw out .... SOCKS! .... my children think that socks are disposable ... they run around out side with only socks on (yes they are clothed ... geez... I'm not THAT out of control) .... I have no idea why they do this and I can't get them to stop either.  So the end result is all their socks get holes worn in them with great efficiency.  The people at Zumiez (a teenage clothes & skateboard shop) know me I'm sure by the name "that sock lady".  I go in there about once every other month and buy about 20 pairs of socks.  Remember I have 4 sons, and all of their friends .... who make frequent trips to our friendly "sock basket" that sits in my kitchen area along with Never Ending piles of clean clothes ..... yes ... I'm admitting it .... This would be another topic of discussion .... LAUNDRY! ..... I could also discuss underwear sharing too ... but I'll spare you details on that .....

Next .... broken everything ...... by this I mean .... the COUNTLESS number of toys .... board games .... stuffed animals.... electronics devices .... video game discs .... all of these that are no longer usable because either pieces are missing, parts are broken or discs have been scratched to the point that they no longer play.  How is it these things we pay slews of money for break but the stick from the yard with blue painters tape wrapped around it will be in our house for eternity for me to pick up and sit back out in the garage only to see it on my kitchen counter again the next day.  Oh, and never throw it away or there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth the likes of if you  had you thrown the puppy away.

I have one more word for you JUNK MAIL .... okay so that was two .... I can't tell you how much mail, magazines .... paper advertisements, new papers .... I throw out.  It's insane to me in the economic times we live in that businesses would not cut back on the absolute waste of paper that these bulk mail things produce.  I don't even open most of them anymore.  Occasionally, the advertisers will get sneaky and make it look all "official" and you open it to realize it's a sales pitch ... I wonder if the companies know when they do that it just irritates us more and we surely won't use their services after being "duped".

Governement waste ..... gee ... yep it's ridiculous .... but waste in our own lives everyday .... we give them a run for their money if you adjust for the size  ...... wish I had an answer .... but atleast maybe now we will start thinking  about it when we are throwing things out or making superflous purchases .... or maybe not .... we are all creatures of habit ..... it's hard to change ....

It's been fun.... see you later!
~joie