Its the Little Things

Doom and gloom is hard to ignore on the TV, on the Radio and all over the front pages of newspapers and magazines. We are in for some hard times, and I wonder if we are really up to it. We are out of practice when it comes to scrimping and saving. But when the largest companies in the country are teetering, and the layoffs approach millions, it is hard to ignore, much less be pithy or even humorous.

And yet, there are so many things that we might do without that might make us more efficient. Lots of little things might add up to some big things. And maybe, in the process, we could become less wasteful. Painless frugality to save the day.

First of all...mattress tags. It seems like it has been a long time since the mattress police took their job seriously. I have removed literally dozens of these tags. I believe I have even done so in a store, where clearly, I was not, at that moment, a consumer. What do you suppose it costs to cut print and stitch these tags onto mattresses, pillows, cushions and comforters? If it costs a penny, and we eliminate them, that puts like $6,754, 659.07 right back into the economy (more or less).

And what about ink cartridges for our computer printers? I purchased recently a cartridge #78 for my HP Office Jet printer. It came wrapped in hard plastic shell, and inside that was a cardboard box. Within the box, a plasticized aluminum pouch hermetically sealed with a product that I apparently should not eat, because it says so right on the pouch. Nothing else in the package suggested I should not eat it, so I assume I could, in a pinch, dine on the packaging....but seriously...get over yourselves. One package is enough...there is no reason for three...it is wasteful of resources, money, and it takes a lot more time to open when I get home. Did I mention I carried the purchase home in a plastic bag? Really, if HP eliminated two layers of packaging, I am sure millions of dollars are saved. Trees as well. See, this is easy.

While we are on the subject of plastic bags....let’s eliminate all bags from retail establishments. Bring your own damn bag, and if you don’t, you get to carry the stuff out without benefit of a container. In a very short time, we would all get good at remembering to bring our own bags. I kick myself every time I forget all the reusable grocery sacks we have collected over the years...they sit in the back of my car awaiting use. Today, with the cart almost full, I ditched it in a quiet corner and ran out to the car to retrieve the bags I had forgotten to bring. They are much stronger, hold more groceries, and that means less trips from the curb to the kitchen. I have teenage children, so all the grocery carrying is my job and I am fond of limiting my trips back and forth. I don’t know what the savings here are, but it helps those businesses in the reusable sack manufacturing industry.

As we just passed Halloween, another opportunity I noticed. “Fun Size” candy bars packed in plastic bags. Why not sell the candy in bulk, by pound. As we do almonds, dried apricots and apples. The candy bars are all individually wrapped anyway. They need no additional protection. That way, you can customize your order. Lot’s of Reese’s, not so many Three Musketeers, and we can just leave the Tootsie Rolls to....well...there must be someone who eats Tootsie Rolls....I think my daughter gives them to the dog.

The list could go on. I am sure we all have our pet peeves. I think soap bars are over packaged—some are in cardboard boxes wrapped in plastic shrink wrap. Really? Is that necessary, and I think we wrap too many things in plastic in general. I find it interesting that plastic bags come in cardboard boxes, while a ream of copier paper is wrapped in plastic. Someday, someone can explain why hot dogs come in packs of 10 while the buns are 8 to a bag. Someone missed a meeting.

Anyway, if we pay attention to all these little things, maybe we can save industry enough money to keep the economy from collapsing, and then we can look at some of the more complicated issues. Like why my 19 year old son keeps getting credit card offers....I mean, isn’t that how we all got in this mess to begin with?