Hugh's War on Waste

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  • Rainy-Days
    Rainy-Days Posts: 1,454 Forumite
    torbrex wrote: »
    If the average family throws away £700 worth of food each year and I throw away zero food each year, who is throwing away the extra?

    It's everything, from fast food outlets to home to businesses! Hotels throw away vast sums of food.

    We have super sized rats - many of which are now resistant to poison because we have fast food waste just dropped on the floor, in London you are apparently never more than six feet away from a rat at any one time!

    The absolute boom in fast food anytime of the day and night and the array of them has led to too much supply. KFC admitted that they throw away tons of chicken each year because it has sat for more than hour in the warming trays and so they think that it needs to go! KFC is not alone!
    Cat, Dogs and the Horses are our fag and beer money :D :beer:
  • Rainy-Days
    Rainy-Days Posts: 1,454 Forumite
    Definitely an interesting point of view but not a sustainable one. Looking at the washing machine example shows why. Its perfectly possible to buy a machine that'll last 10 years and have the parts available should it need a repair i.e Miele offer 10 year warranties and a guarantee to have parts for a minimum of 15 years. Now lets compare that to a cheap brand say Beko who offer a mean 1 year warranty and no parts guarantee. Now lets look at the prices- the cheapest Miele is 450% more expensive than the cheapest Beko. Beko recently said that they were the biggest supplier of washing machines in Europe by volume.

    So what have we learn? Even if people have the option of getting a good quality long lasting washing machine they default to the cheapest. Manufacturers are in business to make money and money is in CHEAP, LOW QUALITY CRAP. Hence thats what they produce as that's what the market wants.

    Things are way way too cheap!

    Agree with the Naomi Klein book.

    It's not about sustainability. If that was the case Apple would only bring out one new phone every couple of years, at the moment its running into every nine months. That is unsustainable and these phones are not cheap either! The labour is in China, the cost production is not vast but the mark up is exponential.

    When we moved home I had an AEG! It's middle of the road in terms of pricing. Not everybody can afford to pay £1,500.00 for a washing machine, but the chances are that the five year warranty on it and the fact my last one went for 13 years, I should get about the same length of time out of it! Just because it's expensive doesn't mean to say it always better. You find the middle ground, do your research and take it from there.

    The same people who are buying a cheap -in your exact words - "crap" Beko washing machine are the very same ones who will go out and buy an new iPad, a new state of the art Samsung or iPhone. The truth is what goes on behind the laundry room door can be closed, but a new top of the range Audi parked on the drive !!!!ing the neighbours off and keeping up with the Jones's is all about show. It's about walking into the office and flashing your latest portable gadget round and hearing every one go oohhhhh woooo

    Try doing that with a washing machine?

    And for the record Audi has been found seriously wanting as well - so just because it is expensive doesn't always mean it is better! A fool and their money and all that!
    Cat, Dogs and the Horses are our fag and beer money :D :beer:
  • I wouldn't pay £15 for a chicken but I wouldn't pay £2 for one either

    People think that cheap is good but it isn't.
    Where's the profit for the retailer? its soo wafer thin that they end up paying there staff a pittance to the point that they can't afford to live. So the Taxpayer has to divert money from schools and hospitals to pay Tax Credits so these workers can survive. Going further down the chain the farmer (sorry factory manager) producing these chickens have to pump them full of antibiotics, cram them at horrific densities etc etc and again paying there staff a pittance.

    If people stopped wanting to eat chicken breasts 10 times a week they could afford to pay more. The shop hopefully would pay more wages so less Tax Credits would be needed. The farmer would have more money to pay his workers and provide for the chickens welfare and the world would be a whole lot nicer!

    Extra points for those that realise that the workers that are paid more can now afford to pay more hence a wondrous virtuous circle :)
  • Rainy-Days
    Rainy-Days Posts: 1,454 Forumite
    People think that cheap is good but it isn't.
    Where's the profit for the retailer? its soo wafer thin that they end up paying there staff a pittance to the point that they can't afford to live. So the Taxpayer has to divert money from schools and hospitals to pay Tax Credits so these workers can survive. Going further down the chain the farmer (sorry factory manager) producing these chickens have to pump them full of antibiotics, cram them at horrific densities etc etc and again paying there staff a pittance.

    If people stopped wanting to eat chicken breasts 10 times a week they could afford to pay more. The shop hopefully would pay more wages so less Tax Credits would be needed. The farmer would have more money to pay his workers and provide for the chickens welfare and the world would be a whole lot nicer!

    Extra points for those that realise that the workers that are paid more can now afford to pay more hence a wondrous virtuous circle :)

    Retailers are doing very well thank you very much. In fact I recall M&S as being the first retailer in this country to pass the £1 billion profit barrier in this country back in the 1990's!

    What did they do? They closed/cancelled all the UK orders sending thousands to the dole queue because they were chasing the profit margin, then they found serious quality issues which they have never recovered from. I remember when M&S stood for something, it stood for quality at an affordable price, quality goods made in the UK.

    Tesco, Sainsbury's all of them are no exception they are all at it. Allot of these companies are in serious pension fund deficits and who picks up the tab for it - the taxpayer! They rip off farmers by paying them a pittance and they cut corners to meet the demands that the buying power these supermarkets demand.

    The harsh truth is there are too many people in this country. The very same ones who actually fuel the demand for chicken ten times per week - the same demand that the supermarkets are fuelling by chasing ever bigger profit margins to pay the bloated shareholders!

    It's commercialism it's capitalism - it's how it works! Wall Street - Money Never Sleeps! Gordon Geko Greed is Good!
    Cat, Dogs and the Horses are our fag and beer money :D :beer:
  • Rainy-Days wrote: »
    I did, it was offensive and downright rude
    Hey?

    The original comment was, and to paraphrase " my husband can make X for £5 but a local shop is charging £20! what a rip-off"

    I then pointed out that a shop had to pay its staff, rent, business rates etc etc not to mention make a profit.

    The original commenter (is that a word?) then got all huffy to which I responded "People know the cost of everything and the value of nothing"

    If people want to feign offence and rudeness to make an issue were there isn't one then... whatever! <shrugs>
  • fuddle
    fuddle Posts: 6,823 Forumite
    edited 17 November 2015 at 5:43PM
    Oh, I remember you.... the person that thinks that shops should give everything away at a loss. Just because your husband can make something for a few quid doesn't mean a shop can.

    Pleased I made an impact :D

    No, I was the person, amongst others, who showed you the error of the rude assumption you made about my husband's capabilities and that it was very valid for him to think as he did and then you changed tack to actually make a valid point.

    If you put your rudeness aside it would be really refreshing to read your point of view because you do make valid points. :)

    So funny. You really do remember me :D but your take on what occurred has been swayed slightly to suit your argument. ;) Calling someone's husband stupid is not really feigning rudeness really... of course, in my opinion. My last word. Do your worst.
  • Rainy-Days wrote: »
    Retailers are doing very well thank you very much. In fact I recall M&S as being the first retailer in this country to pass the £1 billion profit barrier in this country back in the 1990's!

    Not quite sure what your saying but the billion in profits that M&S made is broadly similar to the return of capital that Aldi made last or the year before last. The reason that M&S moved production overseas is the same reason Dyson did... to reduce costs. Nothing strange there. As we all know the UK consumer is only interested in the headline price.
  • I think the original post was from an economy point of view in that the husband in question had already the items needed to make the object being sold in the shop for £20 and they had costed the making price as £5ish. It was a reflection on mark ups by shops against the cost of making it at home if you have the relevant skills, and to my knowledge the original posters husband does have those skills.

    I have already told you I wouldn't buy a £2 chicken, as it happens for precisely those reasons you list but I wouldn't pay £15 just for one meat item either no matter how free range and properly reared because we just couldn't afford to. It's not easy to live on a pension, we all do the best we can to make ends meet and feed, clothe and warm ourselves and sometimes having high principles is just not an affordable thing when you have a set and limited income. Life is not really in shades of black and white, wrong and right but more in shades of grey and the best you CAN do with what you have at your disposal.
  • Rainy-Days
    Rainy-Days Posts: 1,454 Forumite
    edited 17 November 2015 at 6:06PM
    Not quite sure what your saying but the billion in profits that M&S made is broadly similar to the return of capital that Aldi made last or the year before last. The reason that M&S moved production overseas is the same reason Dyson did... to reduce costs. Nothing strange there. As we all know the UK consumer is only interested in the headline price.

    And that Mr_Singleton is exactly the prime point where you have gone way off.

    When James Dyson moved production to the Far Esat did he reduce the costs of his vacuum cleaners - err no he didn't! In fact they went up! His profit margins of course went through the roof, but that comes under the heading of:-

    Lining your own pockets!

    Result was hundreds of workers in Malmesbury got made redundant and yet they were the very ones who took his company to success. The consumer still purchases his vacuum cleaners so are they still thinking about the headline price? They are still expensive IMHO

    With regard to Aldi and M&S I clearly mde specific reference to the 1990's in relation to the billion profit of M&S so add in inflation etc and the 20 year time difference to now you are comparing apples and pears in terms of profitability! The format of Aldi is totally at odds with M&S, Tesco and the rest of them. They choose out of the way stores on land that can be purchased cheaply the sacle and square footage of stores is very small in comparisson to the other big four. Their Buyers are also small in number (staff overheads being smaller) and they only stock say two brands (their own) of baked beans compared to Tesco and Sainsbury's for instance who stock maybe 20! Each inch, each foot of shelf space is actually costed to make a profit. The whole format of Aldi cannot be run alongside and compared to M&S or even Tesco. Their overheads, staff wages, even down to rates are significantly curtailed compared to others mentioned here!

    M&S reduced costs and then found to their significant error that as a result of it the quality of the goods went down. Every year since then you have shareholders pitching up at the M&S annual shareholders meeting in London giving the Directors at M&S 'rock all' about poor performance, lacklustre clothing and quality issues; notwithstanding the fact that the value of their shares and the dividends from them leaves them frothing at the mouth.

    They then promptyly make their point by chucking their knickers and bras at them in protest! It happens every year without fail!

    The stark truth is the whole world is spinning on an ever increasing axis of debt!
    Cat, Dogs and the Horses are our fag and beer money :D :beer:
  • Definitely an interesting point of view but not a sustainable one. Looking at the washing machine example shows why. Its perfectly possible to buy a machine that'll last 10 years and have the parts available should it need a repair i.e Miele offer 10 year warranties and a guarantee to have parts for a minimum of 15 years. Now lets compare that to a cheap brand say Beko who offer a mean 1 year warranty and no parts guarantee. Now lets look at the prices- the cheapest Miele is 450% more expensive than the cheapest Beko. Beko recently said that they were the biggest supplier of washing machines in Europe by volume.

    So what have we learn? Even if people have the option of getting a good quality long lasting washing machine they default to the cheapest. Manufacturers are in business to make money and money is in CHEAP, LOW QUALITY CRAP. Hence thats what they produce as that's what the market wants.

    Things are way way too cheap!

    Agree with the Naomi Klein book.

    Sorry, but it just is not the case that people PREFER to buy cheap washing machines or anything else. Miele is one of the most sought after brands (rightly or wrongly) and if people have a cheap washing machine it is because they cant AFFORD a better one.
    How often have you seen in a millionaire's house kitted out with Beko and Biffinet?
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