I’ve always hated wasting stuff – it’s impossible to pass comment on the fact that we live in a society where throwing stuff away is the norm without sounding as old as Methuselah but seriously, we do. And lets face it, I’ve just had a milestone birthday so I’m catching him up now anyway right? That pre-qualifies me as entitled to turn into a grumpy old boot from time to time.
I have a bit of a strop about the food waste that comes out of my own house on a weekly basis, although to be fair we have got better…it’s just too easy to take your eye off the ball and notice ‘use by’ dates after the event. I’ve started relying on the sniff test now rather than paying too much heed to what’s written on the packaging. If it looks ok and smells ok, it’s probably ok. If it’s slowly turning green and smells like something died in the packet, I consult the dog, who is an expert on both food, and dead things. If he’s not impressed, it goes in the bin. I’ve not managed to kill anyone yet so you know, I’m fairly confident that the system works.
I’ll be attending a few seasonal events over the next couple of weeks where there’ll be a buffet lunch, and that’s another thing guaranteed to send my waste barometer into overdrive. The difference this year of course, will be that I shall be on guard against that moment where my ‘waste not, want not’ button is pushed by the sight of a dozen unclaimed sausage rolls or a few slightly curled butties. Not to mention the killer bowl of crisps…lets face it, who can leave that half full? In the past I think it’s fair to say I’ve single-handedly assumed responsibility for ensuring nothing goes back to the kitchen…not on my watch.
What I’ve never really got my knickers in a twist about, but I need to wake up to it fast, is waste in relation to wasted effort. How many times in the past have I broken a diet and totally wasted all the willpower I’d managed to summon up until the point I fell off the wagon and went under the wheels…? More than I can count, that’s for sure. I mean come on, I’ve scored some heroic wins in the last few months. I wrestled with a double cheese and onion sandwich all afternoon one day for God’s sake – and I never gave in. What was the point of putting myself through that battle, if I was going to cave in without a fight over something else later down the line?
That’s tantamount to disrespecting the effort I’ve put in so far. And why would I do that? There have been far more moments than I’ve written about where I’ve had a short and snippy exchange with the asshole in my mind, and I’ve resisted, played it straight, walked away from a golden hob-nob opportunity in honour of this journey to Skinnytown. And you know what, no way am I going to waste all that effort, and write it off like it didn’t matter.
Because it did matter. Every single one of those moments counted towards how great I’m feeling right now about this journey and how it’s going…trust me, it matters. It’s why I’m still here. I’ve invested thought, planning, hopes and dreams into what I’m doing, where I’m going…to one degree or another, this whole journey over the last few months has been built on the effort that I’ve put in, not to mention the support I’ve had from you guys. Can I even contemplate a situation which would make wasting all of that ok..? Hell no, of course not.
On balance, a wasted sausage roll is nothing by comparison, right?
