My parents....MM

[Pom]

They are up visiting with us while we are getting ready for FIL's estate sale and memorial,

They are older...and pretty well off each on their own. So my sister informs me this morning that stepdad washed his dixie plate after we had pizza last night and mom was washing the red solo cups.

JFC. We can afford to throw out the disposable stuff. Please tell me how to keep my mouth shut I have so many other things to deal with. Love em but head/desk.

[Deleted]

Ha ha ha, oh I'm sorry Pom but that's actually really cute. My grandmother washes out ziplock bags for reuse. Try to keep your mouth shut :-) (good luck!)

[kadams767]

I wouldn't care about this or say anything. Throwing that stuff out is wasteful and bad for the environment, if it can be rinsed and used again, I don't see the big deal. I do this all the time.

[Pom]

Thanks all just consideration helps. I'd never say anything but lol.
Edit. Commiseration

I guess it's the fact that we were outside around the bonfire and our yard is full of pine sap. Stuff was sticky or I would have served on regular plates. It's fine I'm an asshole.

[konapoppy]

May 30, 2015 16:49:31 GMT -5 Pom said:

Thanks all just consideration helps. I'd never say anything but lol.

When you find the family cloth, say something

[moolarkey]

This is part of how they became financially comfortable. Years ago soft butter/margarine came in reusable plastic bowls. People kept them for cereal or snacks, etc. My grandma kept them, kept the plastic lids too and used the bowls and lids to store leftovers in the fridge. It bugged my grandma to not be able to see what was in the bowl so she could cut out the inside of the lid, leaving the ring of the lid so it would still snap on the bowl. She would take a small piece of saran wrap and put it over the bowl and then snap the lid "ring" over that. And.... when not in use she would wash the plastic wrap and re-use it. She washed out plastic bag sandwich bags and re-used them. They were also financially comfortable- her car got 5,000 miles on it? She got a new, loaded, luxury car. The dealer brought cars to my grandma until she found what she wanted, she didn't go to the dealer. The dealer also always had a waiting list for when my grandma traded in a car because they were always in showroom condition. They bought what they wanted, went where they wanted to go but she was extremely frugal in many ways. The saran wrap over the butter bowls with the lid "rings" though did drive me kinda nuts, as a teenager I thought it was VERY weird.

[gibbinator]

I always wash anything that can be reused. Save the environment!

[Deleted]

This is an issue for you because?

[audette]

May 30, 2015 13:19:56 GMT -5 @foodielicious said:

I guess for me the frustration would be if you're going to wash it, then why not use real plates and glasses? But yeah this is a small one.

This is where I'm at... Why bother with disposable at all if you plan to wash it.

[joenali]

Really they aren't disposable.

[Deleted]

If that is the only problem you have with your parents I think you're in pretty good shape!

[irishbride2]

I always wash solo cups....

My parents do very well for themselves and do as well. I didn't realize most people use them once, outside of college parties lol.

[livinitup]

I was taking plastic plates out of my dishwasher at my last family party and throwing them in the garbage.
 
No, mom. Just no. 

[Pom]

I was probably worked up this morning because I've spent 5 days sorting FIL's sticky, smoke covered papers. Greasy margarine dishes everywhere and more empty envelopes postmarked from the 70's than anyone should have to throw out, yet I can't find important stuff like titles. Lol

I am drinking now, it's all good.

[spunkarella]

They sound adorable. My grandparents do that, too. And reuse ziplock bags and tin foil.

[lifeisinteresting]

May 30, 2015 19:44:48 GMT -5 spunkarella said:

They sound adorable. My grandparents do that, too. And reuse ziplock bags and tin foil.

I don't wash paper plates ( don't use them) but I do wash cups, bags and reuse tin foil. I use washcloths for cleaning everything except really dirty to save $ on paper towels, make my own diaper wipes. We have cut eating out to a minimum and make most of our food and snacks too. Since this is the mm board, that's part of how we live under our means. I want to make sure we have money for retirement so we budget now and we will be fine. But I know everyone doesn't want to do these things.

[imojoebunny]

My parents are well off by any standard. They reuse bottled water bottles and zip lock bags (gross!). I have given them zip locks for Christmas in hopes they will give up the gross.

Enjoy your well earned drinks!

[steph96]

You know the bags that newspapers come in? My grandma would rinse them and use them to wrap food in. I think people that grew up in the depression are all about doing stuff like that. Recycling is great, but some of the stuff she did was just too extreme.

[cilantro]

Everyone can pat themselves on the backs all they want about how frugal they are, those things are called disposable for a reason. They aren't made of the types of plastic that is meant to be washed and reused and washing (heating) them and reusing is a health hazard.

[WOT?*]

DH's grandparents were comfortably middle/upper middle class. Yet grandpa would wash the paper towels and hang them to dry and reuse. I thought it was cute. Not even my grandparents were that extreme.

My grandparents were the same way. Part of it was Depression economics and that things were hard to come buy. My mom's parents were packrats who never threw anything out. My dad's parents were re-users and recyclers/upcyclers. Grandma could find 100 ways to reuse a gallon milk jug.

[ddi741]

Growing up, there was always a bucket of soapy water at all family picnics, it was for the plastic utensils.

I had an aunt who dried and reused tea bags. She had a little clothes line for them.

I would probably say something once, nicely mention that those things can go in the trash. If oy continues, just give up and throw it all out when they leave.

[rubytue]

Heck, back in my college/frat days, we'd wash even red solo cups. Although we mostly sent pledges up and down the bleachers after the football game to collect plastic beer cups. We were the poor frat (yes, frat. co-ed, local, off-campus, non-IFC, and everything you'd imagine that involves lol)

And we reuse ziploc bags, too. Except the ones that hold meat/fish. But snack bags get reused for a long time.

However, we are high paper towel users. Can't break that habit, and we've tried.

[mrsukyankee]

May 30, 2015 19:16:29 GMT -5 Pom said:

I was probably worked up this morning because I've spent 5 days sorting FIL's sticky, smoke covered papers. Greasy margarine dishes everywhere and more empty envelopes postmarked from the 70's than anyone should have to throw out, yet I can't find important stuff like titles. Lol

I am drinking now, it's all good.

I get this.  We're still going through my FIL's stuff to find the important items (mixed in with stuff from the 70s too) and my MIL likes to hoard any type of container she's ever gotten.

[JayhawkGirl]

I'll commiserate - MIL reuses the same paper towel and kleenex (!!!!) for days. It's gross.

She also washes solo cups.

[MixedBerryJam]

May 30, 2015 11:15:00 GMT -5 Pom said:

They are up visiting with us while we are getting ready for FIL's estate sale and memorial,

They are older...and pretty well off each on their own. So my sister informs me this morning that stepdad washed his dixie plate after we had pizza last night and mom was washing the red solo cups.

JFC. We can afford to throw out the disposable stuff. Please tell me how to keep my mouth shut I have so many other things to deal with. Love em but head/desk.

I wash my solo cups. And I rinse and reuse ziplock bags. I draw the line at birthday candles, though. We are rich enough to throw those out after one use. That's how I knew I'd "made it."

[niq]

I feel you. My mom washes red solo cups. Does not compute.
My grandmother ironed wrapping paper that her presents came in and reused it.

On the other hand, I have been known to wash out the gallon sized Ziploc bags.

[badtzmaru22]

Solo cups can survive the dishwasher. Don't ask me how I know. ::runs away to go wash out some ziploc bags::

[Marmee]

May 31, 2015 18:56:39 GMT -5 badtzmaru22 said:

Solo cups can survive the dishwasher. Don't ask me how I know. ::runs away to go wash out some ziploc bags::

When we moved cities we went into a temp apartment while we house hunted & most of our stuff stayed in boxes/storage. Ended up there 4mo...after a while I started putting the plastic stuff in the dishwasher...lol.

My grandmother did these all...saved margarine tubs, ziplock bags, wrapping paper, etc. Definite depression era kid.

[kwynn]

May 31, 2015 15:18:45 GMT -5 MixedBerryJam said:

May 30, 2015 11:15:00 GMT -5 Pom said:

They are up visiting with us while we are getting ready for FIL's estate sale and memorial,

They are older...and pretty well off each on their own. So my sister informs me this morning that stepdad washed his dixie plate after we had pizza last night and mom was washing the red solo cups.

JFC. We can afford to throw out the disposable stuff. Please tell me how to keep my mouth shut I have so many other things to deal with. Love em but head/desk.

I wash my solo cups. And I rinse and reuse ziplock bags. I draw the line at birthday candles, though. We are rich enough to throw those out after one use. That's how I knew I'd "made it."

Reuse birthday candles here - why not? They are only lit for like 30 seconds.

Actually, I am so cheap - we used, for everyone, a candle my dad had on his cake that said "50" - 12 years ago. Like I put that on everyone's cake for more than a decade. Very MM and it was funny too.

[h]

I don't put them in the dishwasher because I worry about high heat breaking down the plastic and creating a health hazard, but I am definitely not above rinsing and reusing solo cups. I kind of thought everyone did that.