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What Form(s) of Waste, or Excessive Use of Resources, Gall You Most?

Discussion in 'Environmental Discussion' started by ghostofjk, Jun 14, 2006.

  1. ghostofjk

    ghostofjk New Member

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    For those who think about such things, what form of waste, or, perhaps to make too fine a distinction, excessive use of resources, sticks in your personal craw?

    Please, no laundry lists to steal the thunder of others---just your one or two least favorite!
     
  2. tripp

    tripp Which it's a 'ybrid, ain't it?

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    Throwing away perfectly recycleable stuff like aluminium cans, plastic bottles, etc...

    Of course the list goes on... but mum's the word until others chime in... Waiting for TonyPSchaefer's rant.
     
  3. tanteb & rgrpick

    tanteb & rgrpick New Member

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    Household water misuse is one thing that irritates me no end. Running dishwashers when only half full, leaving water running while brushing teeth, sudsing hands, or scrubbing an object rather than turning off and then back on as needed. What else? ah yes, hosing off dirt on drives and sidewalks rather than sweeping, watering lawns for frequent, brief periods rather than fewer long soaking ones.

    This all counts as one rather than a laundry list right? Oops, I forgot water and laundry....probably forgot a million other examples
     
  4. SSimon

    SSimon Active Member

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    The watering of one's lawn. Especially when they are watering the neighboring concrete!?!?!?!?!
     
  5. tanteb & rgrpick

    tanteb & rgrpick New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Jun 14 2006, 12:27 PM) [snapback]271159[/snapback]</div>
    How about sprinklers that are left on when it is raining???
     
  6. B Rad

    B Rad New Member

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    Las Vegas Casinos seem to be switching from glass beer bottles to cans just to save money. Do you have any idea how much beer is consumed in Vegas in on day !!!!!! It's the cans that wasted not the beer !!!
     
  7. ohgreys

    ohgreys New Member

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    I'm sure this isn't what you were thinking of but meetings that involve too many people who don't need to be there are my least favorite resource wasters <_<
     
  8. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    :lol:

    No rant here. But I agree with everyone. It seems that once you figure out that something is recyclable or reusable, you start noticing other things. It's a slippery slope.

    I agree with the wasted water. There's a patch of highway on my morning drive that's constantly soaked because the sprinklers are spraying it. THis is right before a stoplight that people are often flying up to. I suppose it will take an accident for someone to fix that.

    I know and acknowledge that no one's perfect and no one has a carbon footprint of nothing. What annoys me the most is the blatancy of it. It's when people don't even try that I get frustrated. Or when the person knows what best or knows what they should do but they personally make the conscious decision to not do it. Cigarette butts, for example, littering the sidewalk or the ground right in front of an office building. That's just downright blatant littering and rude.

    If you are looking for examples of a company taking steps to address environmental actions, check out sylvania's environmental subweb [Here]. I know the woman in charge of their Environmental Department and let me tell you they are serious. One example: by halving the amount of packaging they use, they buy less and waste less. And so does the consumer. Also, they can fit more bulbs on a truck which increases the number of bulbs shipped for the same amount fo fuel. Sidenote: they halved their packaging five years ago; they just recently halved it again.
     
  9. tanteb & rgrpick

    tanteb & rgrpick New Member

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    Thanks for the information on Sylvania. To whatever extent possible we prefer to utilize goods and/or services from companies with whose policies and actions we are comfortable. Sylvania will now have an edge.
     
  10. SSimon

    SSimon Active Member

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    I was surprised to learn that Ikea implements a vast scope of practices that benefit the environment.... sustainable wood in their products, printing on non chlorine bleached paper (a biggie), reduced energy usage and the list goes on. I'm not a person who consumes much but I thought this may be of interest to those that do and want to support environmentally friendly companies. If they would only upgrade that mega parking lot to a permeable surface and install native plantings to filter the water.............
     
  11. flyingprius

    flyingprius New Member

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    Watering the grass when it's raining is the first thing that comes to mind. :angry:
     
  12. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    wasting fresh water is my beef too. living in the hydo-electric rich Pacific Northwest blinds many to their wasteful ways.
     
  13. sdsteve

    sdsteve New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Jun 14 2006, 12:59 PM) [snapback]271307[/snapback]</div>
    I'm OK with water generally, especially if it's lawns and it's reclaimed water (which granted is not most homes). I do get really ticked off at POLUTING water though. Drives me nuts to hear that the storm drains dumped crap into the ocean and the beach is closed. I have a few biggies though (some are a bit off topic):

    1. Gas! (go figure)
    2. Over eating.
    3. Kids that are obese
    4. Electric
    5. Non-recycling of items that can be recycled
    6. Wasting of bio-degradable items (why toss it out if you can compost it)
    7. Unsustainable agriculture

    Here's another one of mine... why do I have to pick up my dogs poop, a generally biodegradable item, and put it in a community provided plastic bag??? At least get some of the environmentally friendly bags! Better yet, there are good waste disposal pots especially made for that that neutralize the bad stuff and release the nutrients back into the ground.
     
  14. cry4dawn

    cry4dawn New Member

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    my biggest one is the faom coffee cups at work. most peeps there have three or four cups a day. comon folks bring a mug from home!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  15. routeonedog

    routeonedog New Member

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    I hate the styrofoam shipping peanuts.

    A total waste of oil and you can't get rid of them. They take up a ton of
    space and our county won't accept them for recycling.

    Never thought of them before they started making the peanuts out of wheat flour,
    just disolve in water.
     
  16. skruse

    skruse Senior Member

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    Anything that is "single use" and not recyclable.

    Sprawl that wastes land, productive soils, water and air.

    "Recreational" vehicles that substitute oil for knowledge and aerobic fitness.
     
  17. hycamguy07

    hycamguy07 New Member

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    I have been doing renovations to my home and had a pile of scrap aluminum gutters and a aluminum ladder that I took to one of those scrap yards... I made $48, while I was there another guy pulled in with a homemade trailer the top , bottom and sides were chainlink and he was hauling cans.... half a trailer load he made $60. Hell froget about putting the cans in a recycle bin save them and turn them in for cash...

    My gripe is wasting paper products.. :angry:
     
  18. cry4dawn

    cry4dawn New Member

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    If you had purchased $1,000 worth of Nortel stock three years ago, it would now be worth $49.

    If you had purchased $1,000 worth of Enron three years ago, it would be worth $16.50

    If you had purchased $1,000 worth of WorldCom three years ago, it would be worth less than $5.

    However, had you purchased $1000 worth of beer three years ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the empty cans for aluminum recycling, you would have $614.

    Based on the above, the best currently available investment advice for retirement planning is to drink a lot of beer and recycle.

    This is known as the 401Keg Plan
     
  19. larkinmj

    larkinmj New Member

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    I like driving a car that shuts itself off when stopped. But one thing that really aggravates me is drivers who leave their cars idling while they run into the ATM, the store, etc. And it's usually the drivers of huge SUVs that do it.
     
  20. ghostofjk

    ghostofjk New Member

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    The food most of us waste: in restaurants, our kids in their school cafeterias, and even in our homes.

    My dad was "Depression era", and to this day I have a gut reaction to food waste that I picked up from him.