Seeing as I'm a wannabe treehugger :)
Disclaimer before I start - I'm not perfect and neither is South Africa (Lord knows this!) but here are my impressions.
I really found a lot of waste in the USA. A lot.
I can think of 3 quick examples off the top of my head:
1. Water in toilets
Yes, yes, I know I seem to be super obsessed with the toilets (but really, those u-shaped toilets - I'm 100% sure they must have been designed by a man!).
The toilets have such a lot of water in them, about double what we have in SA.
I can't imagine how much water wastage that is................. and I am a bit of a water Nazi. I insist the kids do the soap on their hands while the tap is closed and then we quickly open, rinse and it's switched off. And with the flushing and so on.
Have you noticed that you guys have lots of water in the toilets when you travel outside the country?
2. Food
Obviously a biggie and one very close to my heart what with all the starving children in Africa LOL. But it's true - there are hungry kids on every one of our very blessed doorsteps.
I noticed that people order all this food and then just send it back where it would be thrown away when they've finished their meal. This is a waste in SA too though. I never send food back. If I don't want it but I usually do (I can at least get a lunch out of leftovers), I get it as a takeaway and give to a beggar or the security guard on my street, etc. And we still buy one meal for the kids and make them share. Lately it's been an adult pizza since they eat so much but still, they share.
The portions are very generous - I remember MandyE ordering a couple of meals when we were together. Both the babies ate from her portion and there was enough for her too. Granted, her babies don't eat that much (at least when I was there) but still, normal toddler appetites.
One day at Panera I ordered a wholewheat bagel and they brought me a poppyseed one. I hate poppyseed anything so I told her I actually ordered a wholewheat one (if it was anything else I would have just eaten it). She then turned to D and said, "do you want this because we're just going to throw it away?" Of course D said yes.
I don't know why I thought that was so amazing - maybe because here the kitchen staff would definitely have it?
3. Utensils
Have I told you of my immense love for Duane Reade? Right... well, I was buying water and yoghurts and the most divine honey pretzels (ooh, the sweet plus the salt = too delicious!) there all the time. I'd ask them for a spoon for the yoghurts and they give you a whole set (fork, knife and spoon) every time. Being the hoarder environmentally conscious person I am, I didn't throw a thing away til I had to pack to come back to SA and discovered a whole stash of cutlery, most of which I didn't even use.
I just found that wasteful.
At Woolworths, there are individually wrapped spoons, forks, knives, etc.
4. Plastic bags
In South Africa we pay for our plastic bags at food retailers. Usually if you buy clothes/ accessories they give you the bags for free. I carry a million reusable bags in my car's boot and one in my handbag (for impulse shopping) both because I'm cheap and because it is the right thing to do... for us.
Well, in the USA they were just handing those plastic bags out like it was Christmas. I tried to be green and haul out my little Baggu shopping bag (I LOVE BAGGU, by the way) but I found the cashiers getting a bit irritated because I took a bit long to get it out and by the end of my trip (a mere 10 days) I was not-so-happily taking those plastic bags to speed things along.
So, do you guys even notice things like that or am I super sensitive to waste?
Tell me which one shocked you the most :)
PS which is your favourite pic?
