Are you one of those people who snap up perceived deals by buying in bulk?
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Those supersized ketchup bottles and buy one get one cans of beans are intended to save money, but they often end up creating more waste. A University study looked at shoppers who stocked up at low-priced retailers such as Costco and found that they rarely consider the dollar value of what gets thrown out. One participant who bought salad greens at Costco for “$3.50” discarded a portion but still felt it was a better deal than buying a smaller container of greens for $2.50.
“The modern tendency to shop infrequently is at odds with basic human abilities to predict future food consumption needs,” was what the author concluded.
A 2000 report out of the University of Illinois titled “The Mystery of the Cabinet Castaway” noted that as much as 15 per cent of the non-perishables in our pantries aren’t used and eventually get tossed.
I know this for a fact as I recently filled two cardboard boxes with tins of food with a used by date older than one year. Some went back to 2014, many to 2017. They were great deals at the time but an expensive waste of money in fact.