When something is used for

When something is used for the sake of learning or experience, then it is not wasted. On the other hand, I can;t be the only one with unstarted projects and boxes of kits that have been sitting forever. To me, that seems like a waste.

Not waste

Hi Rick

Contractors always figure in a certain percentage of materials (off-fall) and labor (non-productive time).  It is not "waste" - it's just considered part of the job or part of the learning curve.  So yours is NOT waste.

However,

Paper has 2 sides - so don't "waste" 1/2 of it.   Actually I didn't think of this until I started getting printouts from clients that had junk on the back side.  At first I thought this was a little OCD, but have changed my mind.  One of my clients saves her used paper for her kids to draw and color on - and send me stuff.   I think the recession (which I don't think is really over) has taught us all some valuable lessons.

Just some thoughts - which only "wasted" a few electrons.  Now to sit back and see how much fire this draws.. 

Waste Not Necessarily Bad

Not all waste is bad. Strategic waste can actually be a good thing. Think about the hobby shop inventories that so often come up in MRH threads. Everyone wants the LHS to have on hand the item they want buy now. That means a lot of inventory. Inventory is actually a form of waste until a sale is made. Product cost, cost of capital, storage space, taxes and insurance are all waste in a sense. Just so the product can be there waiting on your decision to buy it. A LHS that special orders everything while stocking nothing wouldn't stay in business long. Therefore, strategic waste in the form of inventory is more beneficial to the LHS than if they had zero waste i.e. zero inventory.

Back to model trains.... it is a hobby. Considering the relatively low, if any, resale value of a layout and trains one could say the entire adventure, minus recreational and educational value, is a waste. It certainly is not an investment vehicle. So, with that in mind, I say have fun and worry not about waste.

....

Paper costs $2.97 for 500 sheets...I'll use a fresh sheet every day of the week, and still not run out of fresh sheets by the end of the year...the backside, well, it's never good to end up with something you want on both sides!! 

Good points, guys!

"Not so fast" Rick

"Not so fast" Rick

I through the thing about using both sides of paper as my own version of a reverse running.  While it sounds good in theory, it loses a lot in practice.  It was after 6:30 PM on a Friday night and I was still at work and feeling crabby.  And here I am again in at 6AM on a Saturday morning - double extra crabby.  Even the coffee isn't helping yet.

In my situation, we have to be careful what used paper we try to "repurpose".  In practice,  if it has confidential or private info on the used side, it can't be reused period.  Any other used paper is really only good for use as a notepad - you can still see what was printed on the first side, so sometimes that makes the 2nd side hard to read.  And we ended up with several different stacks of paper and was constantly changing out paper in the printers depending on what we were wanting to print.

So in practice, while we saved some paper, we wasted a lot of time - like I'm doing now when I should be working.  But used paper IS good for doodling, drawing/coloring and scratch paper, etc.

Benny is right, at $3 a ream, it's not worth the time to try to reuse in most cases.  The option is - waste paper or waste time.  Time is always more precious because there is a fixed supply of it for each of us.

So I probably shouldn't have started this non-topic comment.  My apologies for wasting electrons.  Getting back to work.

Jim, what about using the

Great idea Rick

Rick

That is a great idea,  especially if your shredder is a cross cut.   Good thinking.  I may take some of our shreds home and try that out.

Waste not glue

HI E G

I may be wrong, but I think Rick started out talking about "waste" and how to look at it or avoid it.  Then it progressed into how to repurpose things that we would normally discard.  Waste and scrap can be glued together into any number of useful items - just like wood wood waste is made into chipboard, particle board, etc in the real world.  IE - if it can still be reused, then it is not "waste".

But I may be wrong.

...

Reusing paper in printers is a recipe for having a gummed up printer, in time.  The old ink has a way of flaking off inside the printer, depending on the kind of ink it is.

Some I use for doodling, but only if there is little to nothing on the other side.

Connection to glue

Thanks, Benny. I don't want

Reusing Paper

Rich,

I have been using my HP All-In-One printer for over eight years printing on the backside of old paper with no "gumming" up of the printer.  It just keeps printing along with no issues except the d@#$ thing keeps running out of ink.

"Waste" is so 20th. century...

Its the 21st century folks! We don't "waste" anything anymore, we're just making it available for recycling or repurposing...

R & D

Rick, I never use the word waste. I call it research and development; at least that’s what I tell my wife. Loose a little material here and there to save money in the long run.