# 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:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/61 "2012-04-25T18:55:58Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > (Honest answers get Tuna-Flavoured-Jell-O) I’ve had tuna jello. It was at a restaurant in Madrid. It had beets in it as well. We ordered it based on the principle that whenever you see something really weird on a menu, you should order it because what if it’s awesome and do you really want to be the kind of person who’s so unadventurous you won’t even try some tuna jello? It came with some kind of cracker-ish bread to eat it with and was quite good. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/62 "2012-04-25T19:15:43Z")
I cringed slightly while reading this thread, because I regularly bring my lunch to work in an old reused ice-cream tub. I might draw the line at pet food containers, though. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/63 "2012-04-25T20:07:23Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > How the heck do you wash paper plates? From an old Mad Magazine: “You scrape, and I’ll erase.” ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/64 "2012-04-26T03:59:00Z")
Actually, didn’t a lot of people used to eat meat jelly – or “aspic” or whatever it was called? > [@cherry](#): > > My MIL does this too but she doesn’t make any for me. Every time I find a tea bag out on the counter I throw it out in my home. > > My husband had surgery on his hand and after being in that hand cast for several weeks it was removed and he threw it out. Well MIL picked it out of the trash and pointed out to me the wasteful DIL that it was a perfectly good hand sling. But I told her that her son threw it out and then she confronted him. It was bizarre for the both of us even after he told her it was gross, he bled in it and his hand was oozing and he didnt think she should keep it she ended up taking it home. Okay, I think you win this thread. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/65 "2012-04-26T16:27:06Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Storing dryer lint with flint & steel for the kids Boyscout pack, I can see. There’s a reality show about cheapskates, and one guy went to laundromats to collect the dryer lint – says it’s a good fire starter. Another cheapskate refuses to buy toilet paper. She cuts old clothes and towels into squares. After use, the squares are put into a bin and then dumped into the wash. “You don’t have to touch them!” Seems like the extra laundry expense might cancel out the TP savings. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/66 "2012-04-26T17:03:13Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > There’s a really sick joke about a “repurposed” plastic slim jim carrier in here somewhere. It’s not the length that matters, but the slimness. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/67 "2012-04-26T17:42:34Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > There’s a reality show about cheapskates, and one guy went to laundromats to collect the dryer lint – says it’s a good fire starter. > > Another cheapskate refuses to buy toilet paper. She cuts old clothes and towels into squares. After use, the squares are put into a bin and then dumped into the wash. “You don’t have to touch them!” Seems like the extra laundry expense might cancel out the TP savings. There’s cheapskates, and then there’s cheapskates. It’s one thing to re-use deli and takeout containers; in fact, KFC’s containers are intended to be re-used. I don’t think anyone really has any problem with that. (Well, I wouldn’t be too thrilled about leftovers kept in old pet-food containers.) But there are people who will happily re-use marinade to save a quarter, even if it means risking food poisoning. Or the idiots like Mr. Dryer Lint and Ms. Rags who will go to pathological lengths to save a little money. I think that, at some point, it’s less about saving actual money and more about not spending it, if that makes sense. They’re more extreme examples of the kind of person who will use half a tank of gas to save a few dollars on groceries. ---
**Author:** ![Aeris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Aeris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeris)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/68 "2012-04-26T18:31:13Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > **STOP** no one move. > > Hands where I can see them. > > Carefully open your desk drawers. > > Look. > > How many of you routinely save paper- and binder clips that land on your desk? > > _Be honest now…_ > > (Honest answers get Tuna-Flavoured-Jell-O) Why on Earth would you throw those away? Now seriously that’s just wasteful. That’s like throwing away a chip clip every time you finish a bag of chips or throwing away a hair band after you use it once. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736/69 "2012-04-26T23:20:09Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > There’s a reality show about cheapskates, and one guy went to laundromats to collect the dryer lint – says it’s a good fire starter. > > Another cheapskate refuses to buy toilet paper. She cuts old clothes and towels into squares. After use, the squares are put into a bin and then dumped into the wash. “You don’t have to touch them!” Seems like the extra laundry expense might cancel out the TP savings. They might be cheapskates or they might believe that re-use and minimisation of material intake is its own virtue. Certainly my grandparents and to a lesser extent my parents and to some extent I have the latter tendency. I don’t think you can call us cheapskates because I have no qualms about buying stuff I haven’t got that I want, but I can’t help having this feeling that it is more virtuous to re-purpose something than throw it away. Doesn’t extend to recycling rag toilet paper though, you will be pleased to hear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-the-whole-reusing-thing-is-going-too-far/619736.md?page=3)