# Mom, The Whole "Reusing" Thing Is Going Too Far **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736 "2012-04-23T19:36:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/1 "2012-04-23T19:36:15Z")
Mom lives in the same town I do, so the family pops by to see her once or twice a week. She’s always been a big “reuser”, and she instilled that in me as well. Why buy Gladware resealable containers when I have a cabinet filled with plastic containers from Chinese restaurants and such? And every time we stop by, she always sends a package of foodstuffs and extras (whether we want them or not). We stopped by over the weekend, and among the goodies were little orange plastic bowls filled with jello. The bowls are a perfect size for a little treat like that, and she asked that I hang on to it and return then when we’re done. Sure, no problem. So, I just finished one here at work. And as I finished it, I noticed some writing on the side. “Market Select”. Hmmm…I wonder what kind of containers these are, anyway. A quick googling, and… …[goddammit, mom](http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750052). ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/2 "2012-04-23T19:38:27Z")
Ha! Oh, dear. Though I will say: it was my understanding that a lot of that type of plastic ware is not meant to be reused-- washed, heated, anything— because it’ll start degrading and putting all kind of nasty chemicals into what ever you’re consuming. I’ll readily accept if I’m wrong, but yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/3 "2012-04-23T19:41:11Z")
[QUOTE=The Topic Line at the time of this post] The Who “Reusing” Thing Is Going Too Far [/QUOTE] Depends…is she reusing, say Roger or Pete or is it Keith or John? I think the latter may be a bit past their sell-by date by now, but, hey, go ahead and keep Roger (or any of the others) in circulation! ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/4 "2012-04-23T19:41:45Z")
My mother in law has pulled things out of my trash. That really offends me, for whatever reason. I trained my husband out of doing it pretty early on, but there’s realistically not anything I can do about her. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/5 "2012-04-23T20:00:03Z")
“Who”, “Whole”, what’s the difference. Ok, slight difference. Passing mod? ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/6 "2012-04-23T20:02:18Z")
Ha! Hal’s gonna forever be known as the “Who Reuser,” because surely nothing else past or present will ever be associated with his handle to compete with this slip! **Knead** Sometimes it’s fun to pretend you’re new even when you ain’t ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/7 "2012-04-23T20:05:57Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Ha! Hal’s gonna forever be known as the “Who Reuser,” because surely nothing else past or present will ever be associated with his handle to compete with this slip! > > **Knead** > Sometimes it’s fun to pretend you’re new even when you ain’t What do you mean, he asked sheepishly? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/8 "2012-04-23T20:12:57Z")
That reminds me, I need to pick up some Baa Mix Market Select. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/9 "2012-04-23T20:17:55Z")
My MIL doesn’t like to throw out anything either. I just had to convince her to throw away 4 day old white rice from the chinese food we had delivered last week. I explained to her that we live in a magical country full of excessive amounts of food at extremely low prices and we didn’t need to figure out how to use dried up old rice in our dinner tonight to keep from starving to death. She threw it out but she was obviously fighting with herself not to dig it back out of the garbage and put it into soup or something later. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/10 "2012-04-23T20:20:11Z")
Have you ever known anyone that washes out used paper coffee cups? I’ve known a couple. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/11 "2012-04-23T20:20:57Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Ha! Oh, dear. > > Though I will say: it was my understanding that a lot of that type of plastic ware is not meant to be reused-- washed, heated, anything— because it’ll start degrading and putting all kind of nasty chemicals into what ever you’re consuming. I’ll readily accept if I’m wrong, but yeah. I don’t even care if this is true or not. I’m going to immediately use this as a rationale for throwing away all of the stupid saved containers we have all over this house. We have _drawers_ full of old takeout containers and butter tubs and whatever. It’s ridiculous and I could really use that space for other things, but MrWhatsit was raised by a Depression-era parent, and well. Yeah. But it’s a health hazard! To the garbage it goes! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/12 "2012-04-23T20:29:47Z")
You go, MsWhatsit! Get rid of the stuff! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/13 "2012-04-23T20:31:43Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > Ok, slight difference. Passing mod? Fixed. You can also report your own post and ask for an edit. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/14 "2012-04-23T20:32:45Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > What do you mean, he asked sheepishly? Bah! Ask not! They’ll just pull the wool over your eyes. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/15 "2012-04-23T21:02:18Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > My MIL doesn’t like to throw out anything either. I just had to convince her to throw away 4 day old white rice from the chinese food we had delivered last week. I explained to her that we live in a magical country full of excessive amounts of food at extremely low prices and we didn’t need to figure out how to use dried up old rice in our dinner tonight to keep from starving to death. She threw it out but she was obviously fighting with herself not to dig it back out of the garbage and put it into soup or something later. Not to distract from the thread, but day (or four-day) old take-out rice makes awesome fried rice and other dishes. It’s not a leftover thing–you get entirely different results if you start with fresh rice (plus, you don’t have to cook it beforehand). ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/16 "2012-04-23T21:10:43Z")
Been there. Look, (MIL) this is supposed to be a va-effing-cation, I most certainly WILL NOT wash these PAPER PLATES to REUSE THEM. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/17 "2012-04-23T21:23:12Z")
How the heck do you wash paper plates? ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/18 "2012-04-23T21:23:33Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > …little orange plastic bowls… As soon as I read this line I knew exactly what you were talking about. > [@tdn](#): > > Have you ever known anyone that washes out used paper coffee cups? I’ve known a couple. I used to do that with 7/11 coffee cups, until I discovered that the bottoms fall out after the second microwaving. And I found out the hard way. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/19 "2012-04-23T21:37:10Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Have you ever known anyone that washes out used paper coffee cups? I’ve known a couple. A friend’s mum not only washes out plastic bags she carefully sellotapes up any tears. ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/20 "2012-04-23T21:38:32Z")
Your mom is a cougar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736.md?page=2)