John-King“John, will you take out the garbage?”

“Well that’s an interesting question. If you take a look at the kitchen trash can, you can see that it’s 77 percent full, but if I hit it here, it reduces to more like 58 percent. Is that enough to take out to the trash? Well, take a look here: The Schneiders next door never take out a garbage bag until its 85 percent full or better. This reduces trips to the garage and saves eventually on buying bulk kitchen trash can liners, whose prices you can see displayed here on my iPad screen. If you compare the Safeway store brand to the Hefty twist ties, the difference can be 23 cents a month, or added up to a year – here – $2.76. Which doesn’t sound like a lot. But if you compare it on this graph to other trends in kitchen goods in the next decade, the implications can give you pause.”

“Never mind, I took it out myself.”