Wednesday, February 18, 2009

When Are You Going To Empty Your Wastebasket?

Gerard is just super about cleaning our house and always on the ball. He empties all our wastebaskets and takes out the garbage several times a day. Usually, this is a good thing, but not always. At work, I am used to having a basket for recycling which is nice because sometimes, after throwing something away in my "File 13" I realize I need to refer to it later. All I need to do is fish it out and there it is.

At home though, on several occasions we threw something away and by the time we discovered we wanted it back, it was already mixed in with the garbage or even on its way to the dump! After about the third time this happened, I asked Gerard if he could just let me have one basket that he wouldn't empty until I gave the okay. He was agreeable so I chose my big Browns can next to my computer desk. It'll only be a quarter full and he'll ask, "Can I empty it yet?" I say, "No, not yet." Then at halfway full, again he asks, "Aren't you going to empty it now?" I'll say, "No, there's still plenty of room yet." Finally, when it reached almost to the top, I told him he could empty any time he wanted now. I guess he didn't hear me because a day or two later he asked me again, "Can I empty it yet?" I said "Yes, I said you could."

I don't understand why it bugs him so because it is a high basket so it's not like stuff is sticking out of it like it is at my work one. It just seems that as soon as I empty it, that's when I'll need something back that I threw away. That is why I empty it as little as possible. My work one is very small but you'd be surprised how much I can stuff into it!

How often do you empty your wastebaskets? Who are you like: Gerard, who wants them to be empty at all times or me, who likes to fill them to capacity and only empty them when absolutely necessary?

7 comments:

The Silver Age Sara said...

I'm pretty good at emptying my trash and most of it is recyclables. The problem here is we have no trash pickup and that took quite a while to get used to. We have to haul it to the dump ourselves so we have a special trash shed. I have found myself going through the shed more than once looking for something :)

Sandee said...

I'm with you on this one. Empty when necessary. Except for the kitchen garbage. Now that's a daily chore.

Have a terrific day. :)

Daisy said...

The under-the-sink stinky garbage goes out once or twice a day. But the office can filled with paper-y stuff only goes out when it's filled all the way up!

Anonymous said...

Trash goes twice a week, we empty twice a week.

Alan said...

I'm a toss it out person. I don't mind your blue recycle box full of paper, but kitchen garbage has to go out fast. I keep my garbage can outside too.

Karen and Gerard said...

Oh yeah, our kitchen garbage is emptied two or three times a day! Even though I wait to empty the one at work as long as possible, usually right after it do, I'll need something back out of it.

BeadedTail said...

We recycle so much we hardly have any trash but what we do have is emptied once a week the day before trash day. I can't imagine emptying it several times a day!

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