No Waste,Please!

Published on by ortensia

One thing I hate,it is wasting.You can certainly say it is a sort of a family imprinting being raised by parents obsessed with respect the environment.
When I was a child there was no wasting food.If I was not eating my meat at lunch,it was proposed in other remains for the mid afternoon snack. If it was not eaten then,it was back in my plate at dinner time,then it was better to eat it because sure it would have appeared on the breakfast table the following morning.The quantity of food was an other issue:”You take only what you think you can eat and, if after you are still hungry, you can serve yourself again.You wont starve or be left without food”.This was one of my mother mantras,along with:”While you are wasting your food here,there are children who are starving to death”.I was small and couldn’t really understand how my piece of whatever food could feed a child miles away in an other continent.

The right quantity of food to serve myself, it is certainly something I learned the hard way one afternoon.We were having tea and biscuits and I, took from the jar a bit too many biscuits.They were my favorites and being completely honest,I was afraid someone else would eat them.The amount I took was bigger then the amount I feel to eat.Detail not as relevant as the greediness I show:”You took them,you eat them”,I was told. I always had a sweet tooth and I always loved biscuits but, they were really a lot.I was sick for a day,stuffed with biscuits.Lesson learned!Since then,I only take small portions at the time.
This is a story that still goes around and nona is still very strict with no wasting food and being greedy. My girls learned since their very early days not to make my same mistake.
Last year we went to a party where there was an other couple with their two kids. When the food arrived,the mother started to fill her kids plates first and very much abundantly.No consideration for the other guests shown and mainly for the other kids.My daughters were left with half portion of fries to share but didn’t complaint.I did.I felt sorry for them and wanted to spat on the woman’s face how unmannerly she has been.The thing that infuriated me the most,was that her kids messed with the food and left the majority of it that went straight into the bin with not even a blink of an eye from the mother.I was disgusted by that behavior and annoyed.What really cheered me up,at the end,was hearing my two daughters commenting on the fact astonished by the waste of food.Some good teaching has been passed on.

Energy, water and toilet paper were other important forms of obsession in my parents’s home.
Water is a resource in danger so the tap is on only when you need it and so are lights.Toilet paper block the drain and strangle the fishes in the sea.”Unless you have a huge ass you don’t need that many sheets of it”,an other mantra.

My parents have a big house with a huge garden and a lot of plants.Italy over summer is very hot so water is needed but, water must be saved! Thankfully the house has a water well.I still wonder if the well made them pick that particular house,or if its presence was just a coincidence.

If I go back down the memory lane I see countless summer evenings spent to take the water from the well to water the plants .(The irrigation system was since the beginning automatized and connected to the well).Now,dealing with the well,it is the girls job and they find it fun…for few weeks a year! As already anticipated not wasting energy is strictly practiced as well.Dinner time is the most tricky part of the day as they refuse to switch on the big chandelier over the table.A strong light while eating is annoying and unnecessary.Meals are always consumed under a dim light.Romantic indeed but not always practical.I won’t even go over the toilet paper subject.I will just say that, I am prone to believe that the bathrooms of their house are kept short of toilet papers rolls on purpose.

At the end of the day,it was not bad at all growing up with such concerned parents.They indeed shaped my social and environmentalist conscence and without even realising it I am passing down the message to my daughters.No words needed because, they just see me switch off the lights every time I leave a room,(except for the Tibetan salt lamps)and they copy me;they just see me recycling and never throw food in the bin and they copy me;they just see me turn off the tap if I am not using the water and they copy me. Over summer then,they go to complete their education at their grandparents home but,that is different:that it is like been taught by professionals.

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88 thoughts on “No Waste,Please!”

  2. This reminds of when my parents come over for dinner.
    After the food, they always come and check on us to make sure we don’t throw nothing away.
    I really try not to, but it’s hard. I am a vegetarian and he barely eats any veggies. Plus my travel schedule is a bit crazy.
    But yes, we do have to plan things a bit better!

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  3. Having just returned from a weekend in Italy, I can concer that Italians still eat only a portion of food that they know they will enjoy and finish completely. So in some countries, your beautiful take on not wasting important items is actually very much alive … only seen as ‘old fashioned’ by our new modern approach to life. We should all adopt the old ways … well, I’m going to anyway. A smaller cup of better quality coffee now instead of a ‘Grande’ Starbucks unnecessary bucket.

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    1. Frankly as Italian I would say Italians only eat small portion to stay slim….unfortunately not recycling and waste are still a big problem.in the last decades many town introduced compulsory recycling .sonetimes is even too much ,my parents have 4 bins I b Vet know where to throw what.but it s good and hopefully in next generation we ll se the fruits of this.thanks for stopping by 😀

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  4. My mom thinks like. She doesn’t like to throw food away. She remembers those who have nothing to eat, so she’s the usual person who eats the leftovers 😁

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  5. My family is also a big believer in no food waste. Whenever something from dinner is left over, we never throw it away. Sometimes our cat gets meat, sometimes (if it is possible) we freeze the food portion-wise to reheat another time. Loved this post!

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  6. I received more or less the same upbringing, and I have to say that I’m glad at their let’s say “old-fashioned” way.. although I had a hard time at understanding this when I was a kid.. wasting food, as wasting in general is lack of consideration, and can be definitely annoying…

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  7. No wasting anymore campaign this post should be as a great reminder for some individuals who neglect it , very great lesson, being greedy through these situations, will help others to give value for their thingies. You are alright about other excess food can feed children who are starveling to death miles away in other countries. But can’t call it greediness as you mentioned but can call it ” appreciation of bliss” great article about wasting. 🙂

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    1. That is good isn’t it?one of my neighbors (the one with who fills. Her kids plate to the top😉)doesn’t recycle properly.just bit of paper but no organic at all.her bins are always messy and overflowing….but she also is annoyed by plants and trees😱

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      4. Ha ha ha no.you and Susan are like and me and the traveling husband just inverted.i am the weak one.yesterday he ate a full loaf of banana bread ,I didn’t even find the freezer bag I put in.just saw few crumbles…on the couch🙄

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  10. Last year California finally got our of a 6 year drought. (I have fears this year they are at the start of a new drought cycle.) Wish your mother had cuffed some Californians up along side the ear for the water they have wasted. It could start with a construction company which has repeatedly let water leak from a hose for several days at a time…..

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  11. Those are wonderful values and it’s so great your kids are picking up on it!
    I started recycling and my son and I do it but my mother won’t. It drives me nuts. And wasting food drives me nuts. I am constantly telling my son that we can’t afford to waste food, if I made it, you need to eat it.

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  13. I love this post too-and can really identify with it. I grew up hearing that wastefulness was sinful-and now I agree with that! I do not waste if I can but all help it. I loved hearing that your girls have adopted the same attitude-something is going right! xoxox love Michele

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  15. This is a very important lesson to learn. Good habits come from an early age so I find it always wonderful to see well behaved and well-mannered children. Hail to traditional values! True values never go out of fashion, no matter what this over consuming and over wasting society says!

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  16. Maan …
    as much as I will agree.. “waste not..want not”

    Your parents went to the extreme..
    and true it be.. children learn what they live…
    So I can understand you being obsessed and passing on what you have learnt to your kids..

    But.. I don’t like to that extreme and tight on certain things..
    I have also thought my kids to only dish what they think they will eat.. and seconds are always welcome..

    Toilet paper.. I’m not as much..
    light.. I kinda walk behind and lock off unnecessary lights.. and I used to low efficiency bulbs..

    Everyone one values is different.. and I actually admire you for sticking with what you know and Learnt from your parents…

    Don’t change.. it teaches appreciation for the things others take for granted

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      1. Yep but it’s difficult sometimes bcz I’m eating Ayurvedic and that means I can’t spare or keep my food longer than 24hrs in refrigerator. In general I’m always eating only fresh-prepared. Unless it’s a soup.

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      7. I confess I eat left over but only within a day…usually they don’t last for more😜and I freeze meat and food 🥘 might do in big quantities to have handy to use like ragù .

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      18. Yah….! That’s nice ….you can earn while looking after the house..but hats off to you 🎩for cooking according to your family’ s need.
        This shows you know your family very well☺

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  21. Pingback: No Waste,Please! – just opinion

  22. I grew up where wasting anything was unheard of. It aches my heart to see how much waste I see on daily basis in US. Food, daily items, pretty much everything including friendships! I am glad I found your post. Made me feel there is humanity!

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