What can we do to cut back on how much is wasted in our society?

[Suze]

It is amazing to me that when you ask for the waitstaff to leave something into the kitchen, that they act like you just asked them for the moon.

Hello..... didn't I just save you some work? 

This is on the level of the fast food places that can't understand that you only want the meat on the bun - no cheese - no dressing of any kind. 

[Brentwood]

It is amazing to me that when you ask for the waitstaff to leave something into the kitchen, that they act like you just asked them for the moon.

Hello..... didn't I just save you some work? 

This is on the level of the fast food places that can't understand that you only want the meat on the bun - no cheese - no dressing of any kind. 

My son likes his burgers plain - no cheese, no pickle, no ketchup, nothing. We usually order this as "a plain burger, just bun-burger-bun."

For a long time, no one seemed to understand that plain means plain!

[hobish]

It is amazing to me that when you ask for the waitstaff to leave something into the kitchen, that they act like you just asked them for the moon.

Hello..... didn't I just save you some work? 

This is on the level of the fast food places that can't understand that you only want the meat on the bun - no cheese - no dressing of any kind. 

I'm not trying to say asking for items to be left off is in any way rude or wrong or that there is any excuse for waitstaff to give you the eye-roll, but no, you are not saving them work by doing so. If anything, if an entree comes with something, the waitstaff has to take the time to specify that it not be included. At fast food places a lot of items are pre-made, and to make them differently they have to make yours to order instead of using one that is already made. Asking for a burger without katsup or some such at a fast food place is actually a good way to ensure you get a fresh one.
Again, not saying it's rude to ask for stuff to be left off - i think it's a good idea & i do it, too - but saving work? No.

[hobish]

It is amazing to me that when you ask for the waitstaff to leave something into the kitchen, that they act like you just asked them for the moon.

Hello..... didn't I just save you some work? 

This is on the level of the fast food places that can't understand that you only want the meat on the bun - no cheese - no dressing of any kind. 

My son likes his burgers plain - no cheese, no pickle, no ketchup, nothing. We usually order this as "a plain burger, just bun-burger-bun."

For a long time, no one seemed to understand that plain means plain!

LOL, if you want to see someone's head spin ask for a big mac with no burger. I used to do that when i was a vegetarian & the cashier was usually amused.

[Liebling]

CathyF: I live in Australia, and at McDonalds (the most popular fast food restaurant here), the biggest burger has a quarter of a pound of meat (its actually called a Quarter-Pounder). I have never seen a burger bigger than that at any restaurant, and I don't think I want to!

IndianInlaw: We have a garbage pick up day like that too. We get a notice in the mail that the council is going to be picking up whatever is left on the curb on a certain date. Everyone puts the stuff out early, and then the council never comes on the stated day, more like 2 days after. This way, a lot of the stuff gets picked up and taken home by other people. Works great!

[Venus193]

Hello..... didn't I just save you some work? 

This is on the level of the fast food places that can't understand that you only want the meat on the bun - no cheese - no dressing of any kind. 

There is a street vendor in the vicinity of my office who makes an excellent Middle Eastern chicken and rice dish.  I don't like the white sauce that is fairly standard on this dish; it's the last item placed on it.  One day I ordered the chicken and told the guy "no white sauce"; he did it anyway.  I said "No!" as he squeezed the stuff on the chicken, so he started to make another one.  He was either not thinking or being passive/aggressive:  he still put that disgusting stuff on it.  At which point I lost patience and walked away.

Two days later this guy and his partner did it differently.  The chef dished up the chicken and rice; the other guy took care of the sauces and collected the money.

[Suze]

At McDonald's here they make the buger as you order it so leaving something off is not a big deal.

and I usually do order it plain - just meat and bun please - and still usually get cheese on it!? Some days it goes back, some days I just eat it, depends on how obnoxious I feel.

Around here - little towns remember - the kitchen cooks the food and hand it off to the waitress to "dress the plate" so they just have to pick the plate up and deliver it to the table.  I have been a waitress in a small resterant, I never had more than ten tables to keep track of. (told you it was small)

Sarah -- a quarter pounder at McDonald's is a SMALL burger here in the US if you go to any resterant you will most likely find that size on the CHILDREN'S menu.  and one third pound or bigger on the regular menu.

As I said -- It is no wonder America as a country has weight problems.

I watched part of a show last night on cable about people with huge weight problems (it was called "I eat 33,000 calories a day")  These were people that could barely walk or couldn't get out of bed. (the cable cut out so I couldn't finish it)

I am no skinny woman myself, but, OH MY

[Sophia]

IndianInlaw: We have a garbage pick up day like that too. We get a notice in the mail that the council is going to be picking up whatever is left on the curb on a certain date. Everyone puts the stuff out early, and then the council never comes on the stated day, more like 2 days after. This way, a lot of the stuff gets picked up and taken home by other people. Works great!

I put my stuff out a week early (in nice weather) for this to happen.  I can't think of one thing in 10 years that I put out early that didn't get taken.  There are alleys were I live, so people must drive up and down them.  I got two really great, but slightly ugly chest of drawers that way.  Oh, and my coffe table (covered with a table cloth), this desk, and most of my outdoor furniture. 

[Cupcake Fiend]

I wish we had that day in our neighborhood.  We have to pay extra money for each large item to be picked up.  In our basement we are currently storing 2 water damaged mattresses and boxsprings, a damaged loveseat, and a rickety old desk. I'd love to get rid of it all!

[Alida]

While watching Food Network's Dinner: Impossible, I realized how much I adored Chef Robert Levine.  Not only did he note that his policy for a wedding banquet was not to serve anything that could ruin a woman's clothing, but when he showed the staff how to trim asparagus, he noted, "We save those for soup" when showing the boys the ends of the asparagus.

Yay for NOT wasting food while preparing a banquet!

[kingsrings]

I agree, a lot of things are wasted.  I used to work at a food/ice-cream place and if something was wrong with the order, we were instructed to just throw it away. 

That happened at the fast-food place I worked at, too. For instance, if someone ordered a hot dog with cheese and the person making it messed up and didn't put the cheese on it, we had to throw it away and make a whole new cheesedog instead of just taking the hot dog back and putting the cheese on it, which is what is normally done anyway when it is ordered. What is the difference?? But customers would have a fit if we did that, so we had to start throwing perfectly good food away and make whole new one. Another thing I have seen with some fast-food places (including the one I worked at) was with toy promotions-buy a meal deal, get a toy. Someone would come in just wanting the toy, so they would order the food, take out the toy, and throw the food away. I am one of those people who says that others should be thankful of food because there are a lot of starving people in the world, so it is doubly offensive to just throw it away like that.

[kingsrings]

If you really want to find good stuff, look around college campuses right before summer breaks begin. Some of the kids will toss out perfectly good couches...because said kids are moving back home for the summer and can't be bothered to do anything but throw away a ton of nice furniture.

There are a lot of charity organizations that do pick-up, so it's pretty easy. Plus you can get a tax break.

[DottyG]

Another big waste is the number of half and half portions in other places that sell coffee.  I only ever use half of one, but they always give at least 3.

Yet, I'm the person that cannot, for the life of me, understand why I cannot get MORE than the dang three they put in the bag.  I use more cream than that, and it frustrates me to no end to not have enough to put in my coffee.  Trust me, if they put 6 or 7 in my bag, they would not go to waste.  I just wish they would do so.

If they put only one, I'd be seeing red!

[Venus193]

In that case, Dotty, I guess you need a drinking companion like me... who only uses half of one.   :)If I get coffee in a place that gives those out I try to tell them to only give me one so they don't waste them.

[Barghest1031]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/advertisements/bigburger.asp

how about this one -- a burger with anywhere from 2 pounds to 10.5 POUNDS of meat in them.

I know this is a stunt for the resterant but still.......

I really do  not know how people can eat that much in one sitting.  If I tried to do that I would be Sooooooo sick.

And I have seen guys eating TWO of those huge tenderloins in one meal.

I wish restaurants served 1/4-pound hamburgers (other than on the children's menu). Half a pound is too big, and so many are actually one pound! If I order a burger, I always wind up taking half home. I never order the fries either, because most would go to waste. I order vegetables (cooked or raw) with a burger and can usually eat all of them.

I don't know if you have any Fudrucker's or Cheeseburger Charlie's near you, but both of those places do. (And my oh my are their burgers heavenly. Sadly, the Fudrucker's nearest to my closed as it's a franchise operation, so if I want it anymore we have to drive to St. Louis. But there is still a Cheeseburger Charlie's nearby. They're not quite as wonderful as Fudrucker's but still good.)