wrote:
However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

Often the things that have real salvage value are also things that the
retailer gets credit from the distributor. To get that credit, they have
to ensure the distributor that they have destroyed the items in
question. Donating them to charity means they don't get credit from the
distributor.

Even when that's not the case, it's not usually feasible to keep a list
of which things need to be destroyed, and which don't need to be
destroyed. And even if you do, you're right back to the point where
people are throwing things out just so they can be salvaged.

Another issue that hasn't been brought up is if the retail store has a
customer-friendly, no questions asked policy on returns, they run the
risk of people dumpster diving, and returning the same items over and
over again.

Yes. There is a lot of waste out there. But the things we're talking
about aren't because the retailers are uncaring people who want to waste
the resources of the world. The things we're talking about happen
because there are too many dishonest people in the world looking for
ways to screw the retailers -- especially the big retailers. They
justify it by saying, "who cares if I keep dumpster diving behind the
Home Depot, and keep returning the same merchandise over and over again.
They're a big company."

Figure out a way to eliminate dishonesty, and then retailers can stop
these practices that appear to be wasteful. Shrinkage isn't a small
problem. It's one thing to give away waste, like Starbuck's coffee
grounds, or the barber's piles of hair. It's quite a different story
when you start talking about merchandise that's no longer saleable.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Spend your Amazon gift certificates he
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/associateshop.html

(Zemedelec)


Somehow the phrase, "Dog in the manger" keeps floating through my brain...

Just in case . . .

The allusion is to one of Aesop’s fables, written about 600BC, in which a dog
was taking a nap in a manger. When an ox came and tried to eat the hay in the
manger, the dog barked furiously, snapped at him and wouldn’t let him get at
his food, food that, of course, was useless to the dog. At last the ox gave up
and went away muttering, “Ah, people often grudge others what they cannot
enjoy themselves�.

"madgardener" wrote in message ...
I have taken the incentive to post these..........

Strange sight at Home DepotPosted by CRMiller z9 CA (My Page) on Sun, Mar
21, 04 at 0:39


Today when I was at Home Depot, there was a cart full of half dead
plants (needed water) and some irises that were out of bloom. They were
headed for the dumpster. The lady working there was taking the plants out
one by one and spray-painting them! Not the pot, the leaves and stem. I didn
't stop to ask her about them because I was in a hurry. I don't like that
they throw away plants that were under watered, but spray-paint them bright
orange?!!

I'm not saying this is a good policy at all but it is, unfortunatly,
necessary because of the many points the others have brought up. It
prevents employee shoplifters from getting stuff put into the
dumpsters for them to pick up later. It helps prevents dumpster
diving (if i dumpster dive and hurt myself i'm sure i could sue Home
Depot somehow). I like the one person's story about how shoes had to
be cut in half before being tossed in the dumpster. So this practice
is 'necessary' for the store to cover their back. However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

But where do they draw the line at what they can donate away? Some
churches might be thrilled to get a bunch of half dead plants.
Others would be offended. And how about all the other 'junk' that
people love to dumpster dive for? It would take a lot of time/effort
to have a whole 'recycling' comitee put together to determine what
should be donated and what should be junked.

And if people don't believe the shoplifting excuse, just think about
the scenario of a donut shop. If you walk in right before closing
time, why won't they give you all the leftover donuts for free since
they're just going to throw them out? Lets say they did. The some
employee realizes that there are always X stale donuts left over at
the end of the day. Therefore he should be able to steal X fresh
donuts right as they're baked and no one is harmed since they would
have just been stale at the end of the day. This is essentially true
until the day when they needed those X donuts and they run out. The
only way to maintain a surplus and the whole idea that all items are
valuable is to destroy them in the end. It's wrong but it does
protect their ass as intended.

(Zemedelec)


Somehow the phrase, "Dog in the manger" keeps floating through my brain...

Just in case . . .

The allusion is to one of Aesop’s fables, written about 600BC, in which a dog
was taking a nap in a manger. When an ox came and tried to eat the hay in the
manger, the dog barked furiously, snapped at him and wouldn’t let him get at
his food, food that, of course, was useless to the dog. At last the ox gave up
and went away muttering, “Ah, people often grudge others what they cannot
enjoy themselves�.

(Zemedelec)


Somehow the phrase, "Dog in the manger" keeps floating through my brain...

Just in case . . .

The allusion is to one of Aesop’s fables, written about 600BC, in which a dog
was taking a nap in a manger. When an ox came and tried to eat the hay in the
manger, the dog barked furiously, snapped at him and wouldn’t let him get at
his food, food that, of course, was useless to the dog. At last the ox gave up
and went away muttering, “Ah, people often grudge others what they cannot
enjoy themselves�.

(Zemedelec)


Somehow the phrase, "Dog in the manger" keeps floating through my brain...

Just in case . . .

The allusion is to one of Aesop’s fables, written about 600BC, in which a dog
was taking a nap in a manger. When an ox came and tried to eat the hay in the
manger, the dog barked furiously, snapped at him and wouldn’t let him get at
his food, food that, of course, was useless to the dog. At last the ox gave up
and went away muttering, “Ah, people often grudge others what they cannot
enjoy themselves�.

(Zemedelec)


Somehow the phrase, "Dog in the manger" keeps floating through my brain...

Just in case . . .

The allusion is to one of Aesop’s fables, written about 600BC, in which a dog
was taking a nap in a manger. When an ox came and tried to eat the hay in the
manger, the dog barked furiously, snapped at him and wouldn’t let him get at
his food, food that, of course, was useless to the dog. At last the ox gave up
and went away muttering, “Ah, people often grudge others what they cannot
enjoy themselves�.

"madgardener" wrote in message ...
I have taken the incentive to post these..........

Strange sight at Home DepotPosted by CRMiller z9 CA (My Page) on Sun, Mar
21, 04 at 0:39


Today when I was at Home Depot, there was a cart full of half dead
plants (needed water) and some irises that were out of bloom. They were
headed for the dumpster. The lady working there was taking the plants out
one by one and spray-painting them! Not the pot, the leaves and stem. I didn
't stop to ask her about them because I was in a hurry. I don't like that
they throw away plants that were under watered, but spray-paint them bright
orange?!!

I'm not saying this is a good policy at all but it is, unfortunatly,
necessary because of the many points the others have brought up. It
prevents employee shoplifters from getting stuff put into the
dumpsters for them to pick up later. It helps prevents dumpster
diving (if i dumpster dive and hurt myself i'm sure i could sue Home
Depot somehow). I like the one person's story about how shoes had to
be cut in half before being tossed in the dumpster. So this practice
is 'necessary' for the store to cover their back. However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

But where do they draw the line at what they can donate away? Some
churches might be thrilled to get a bunch of half dead plants.
Others would be offended. And how about all the other 'junk' that
people love to dumpster dive for? It would take a lot of time/effort
to have a whole 'recycling' comitee put together to determine what
should be donated and what should be junked.

And if people don't believe the shoplifting excuse, just think about
the scenario of a donut shop. If you walk in right before closing
time, why won't they give you all the leftover donuts for free since
they're just going to throw them out? Lets say they did. The some
employee realizes that there are always X stale donuts left over at
the end of the day. Therefore he should be able to steal X fresh
donuts right as they're baked and no one is harmed since they would
have just been stale at the end of the day. This is essentially true
until the day when they needed those X donuts and they run out. The
only way to maintain a surplus and the whole idea that all items are
valuable is to destroy them in the end. It's wrong but it does
protect their ass as intended.

"madgardener" wrote in message ...
I have taken the incentive to post these..........

Strange sight at Home DepotPosted by CRMiller z9 CA (My Page) on Sun, Mar
21, 04 at 0:39


Today when I was at Home Depot, there was a cart full of half dead
plants (needed water) and some irises that were out of bloom. They were
headed for the dumpster. The lady working there was taking the plants out
one by one and spray-painting them! Not the pot, the leaves and stem. I didn
't stop to ask her about them because I was in a hurry. I don't like that
they throw away plants that were under watered, but spray-paint them bright
orange?!!

I'm not saying this is a good policy at all but it is, unfortunatly,
necessary because of the many points the others have brought up. It
prevents employee shoplifters from getting stuff put into the
dumpsters for them to pick up later. It helps prevents dumpster
diving (if i dumpster dive and hurt myself i'm sure i could sue Home
Depot somehow). I like the one person's story about how shoes had to
be cut in half before being tossed in the dumpster. So this practice
is 'necessary' for the store to cover their back. However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

But where do they draw the line at what they can donate away? Some
churches might be thrilled to get a bunch of half dead plants.
Others would be offended. And how about all the other 'junk' that
people love to dumpster dive for? It would take a lot of time/effort
to have a whole 'recycling' comitee put together to determine what
should be donated and what should be junked.

And if people don't believe the shoplifting excuse, just think about
the scenario of a donut shop. If you walk in right before closing
time, why won't they give you all the leftover donuts for free since
they're just going to throw them out? Lets say they did. The some
employee realizes that there are always X stale donuts left over at
the end of the day. Therefore he should be able to steal X fresh
donuts right as they're baked and no one is harmed since they would
have just been stale at the end of the day. This is essentially true
until the day when they needed those X donuts and they run out. The
only way to maintain a surplus and the whole idea that all items are
valuable is to destroy them in the end. It's wrong but it does
protect their ass as intended.

"madgardener" wrote in message ...
I have taken the incentive to post these..........

Strange sight at Home DepotPosted by CRMiller z9 CA (My Page) on Sun, Mar
21, 04 at 0:39


Today when I was at Home Depot, there was a cart full of half dead
plants (needed water) and some irises that were out of bloom. They were
headed for the dumpster. The lady working there was taking the plants out
one by one and spray-painting them! Not the pot, the leaves and stem. I didn
't stop to ask her about them because I was in a hurry. I don't like that
they throw away plants that were under watered, but spray-paint them bright
orange?!!

I'm not saying this is a good policy at all but it is, unfortunatly,
necessary because of the many points the others have brought up. It
prevents employee shoplifters from getting stuff put into the
dumpsters for them to pick up later. It helps prevents dumpster
diving (if i dumpster dive and hurt myself i'm sure i could sue Home
Depot somehow). I like the one person's story about how shoes had to
be cut in half before being tossed in the dumpster. So this practice
is 'necessary' for the store to cover their back. However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

But where do they draw the line at what they can donate away? Some
churches might be thrilled to get a bunch of half dead plants.
Others would be offended. And how about all the other 'junk' that
people love to dumpster dive for? It would take a lot of time/effort
to have a whole 'recycling' comitee put together to determine what
should be donated and what should be junked.

And if people don't believe the shoplifting excuse, just think about
the scenario of a donut shop. If you walk in right before closing
time, why won't they give you all the leftover donuts for free since
they're just going to throw them out? Lets say they did. The some
employee realizes that there are always X stale donuts left over at
the end of the day. Therefore he should be able to steal X fresh
donuts right as they're baked and no one is harmed since they would
have just been stale at the end of the day. This is essentially true
until the day when they needed those X donuts and they run out. The
only way to maintain a surplus and the whole idea that all items are
valuable is to destroy them in the end. It's wrong but it does
protect their ass as intended.

"madgardener" wrote in message ...
I have taken the incentive to post these..........

Strange sight at Home DepotPosted by CRMiller z9 CA (My Page) on Sun, Mar
21, 04 at 0:39


Today when I was at Home Depot, there was a cart full of half dead
plants (needed water) and some irises that were out of bloom. They were
headed for the dumpster. The lady working there was taking the plants out
one by one and spray-painting them! Not the pot, the leaves and stem. I didn
't stop to ask her about them because I was in a hurry. I don't like that
they throw away plants that were under watered, but spray-paint them bright
orange?!!

I'm not saying this is a good policy at all but it is, unfortunatly,
necessary because of the many points the others have brought up. It
prevents employee shoplifters from getting stuff put into the
dumpsters for them to pick up later. It helps prevents dumpster
diving (if i dumpster dive and hurt myself i'm sure i could sue Home
Depot somehow). I like the one person's story about how shoes had to
be cut in half before being tossed in the dumpster. So this practice
is 'necessary' for the store to cover their back. However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

But where do they draw the line at what they can donate away? Some
churches might be thrilled to get a bunch of half dead plants.
Others would be offended. And how about all the other 'junk' that
people love to dumpster dive for? It would take a lot of time/effort
to have a whole 'recycling' comitee put together to determine what
should be donated and what should be junked.

And if people don't believe the shoplifting excuse, just think about
the scenario of a donut shop. If you walk in right before closing
time, why won't they give you all the leftover donuts for free since
they're just going to throw them out? Lets say they did. The some
employee realizes that there are always X stale donuts left over at
the end of the day. Therefore he should be able to steal X fresh
donuts right as they're baked and no one is harmed since they would
have just been stale at the end of the day. This is essentially true
until the day when they needed those X donuts and they run out. The
only way to maintain a surplus and the whole idea that all items are
valuable is to destroy them in the end. It's wrong but it does
protect their ass as intended.

"madgardener" wrote in message ...
I have taken the incentive to post these..........

Strange sight at Home DepotPosted by CRMiller z9 CA (My Page) on Sun, Mar
21, 04 at 0:39


Today when I was at Home Depot, there was a cart full of half dead
plants (needed water) and some irises that were out of bloom. They were
headed for the dumpster. The lady working there was taking the plants out
one by one and spray-painting them! Not the pot, the leaves and stem. I didn
't stop to ask her about them because I was in a hurry. I don't like that
they throw away plants that were under watered, but spray-paint them bright
orange?!!

I'm not saying this is a good policy at all but it is, unfortunatly,
necessary because of the many points the others have brought up. It
prevents employee shoplifters from getting stuff put into the
dumpsters for them to pick up later. It helps prevents dumpster
diving (if i dumpster dive and hurt myself i'm sure i could sue Home
Depot somehow). I like the one person's story about how shoes had to
be cut in half before being tossed in the dumpster. So this practice
is 'necessary' for the store to cover their back. However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

But where do they draw the line at what they can donate away? Some
churches might be thrilled to get a bunch of half dead plants.
Others would be offended. And how about all the other 'junk' that
people love to dumpster dive for? It would take a lot of time/effort
to have a whole 'recycling' comitee put together to determine what
should be donated and what should be junked.

And if people don't believe the shoplifting excuse, just think about
the scenario of a donut shop. If you walk in right before closing
time, why won't they give you all the leftover donuts for free since
they're just going to throw them out? Lets say they did. The some
employee realizes that there are always X stale donuts left over at
the end of the day. Therefore he should be able to steal X fresh
donuts right as they're baked and no one is harmed since they would
have just been stale at the end of the day. This is essentially true
until the day when they needed those X donuts and they run out. The
only way to maintain a surplus and the whole idea that all items are
valuable is to destroy them in the end. It's wrong but it does
protect their ass as intended.

wrote:
However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

Often the things that have real salvage value are also things that the
retailer gets credit from the distributor. To get that credit, they have
to ensure the distributor that they have destroyed the items in
question. Donating them to charity means they don't get credit from the
distributor.

Even when that's not the case, it's not usually feasible to keep a list
of which things need to be destroyed, and which don't need to be
destroyed. And even if you do, you're right back to the point where
people are throwing things out just so they can be salvaged.

Another issue that hasn't been brought up is if the retail store has a
customer-friendly, no questions asked policy on returns, they run the
risk of people dumpster diving, and returning the same items over and
over again.

Yes. There is a lot of waste out there. But the things we're talking
about aren't because the retailers are uncaring people who want to waste
the resources of the world. The things we're talking about happen
because there are too many dishonest people in the world looking for
ways to screw the retailers -- especially the big retailers. They
justify it by saying, "who cares if I keep dumpster diving behind the
Home Depot, and keep returning the same merchandise over and over again.
They're a big company."

Figure out a way to eliminate dishonesty, and then retailers can stop
these practices that appear to be wasteful. Shrinkage isn't a small
problem. It's one thing to give away waste, like Starbuck's coffee
grounds, or the barber's piles of hair. It's quite a different story
when you start talking about merchandise that's no longer saleable.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Spend your Amazon gift certificates he
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/associateshop.html

wrote:
However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

Often the things that have real salvage value are also things that the
retailer gets credit from the distributor. To get that credit, they have
to ensure the distributor that they have destroyed the items in
question. Donating them to charity means they don't get credit from the
distributor.

Even when that's not the case, it's not usually feasible to keep a list
of which things need to be destroyed, and which don't need to be
destroyed. And even if you do, you're right back to the point where
people are throwing things out just so they can be salvaged.

Another issue that hasn't been brought up is if the retail store has a
customer-friendly, no questions asked policy on returns, they run the
risk of people dumpster diving, and returning the same items over and
over again.

Yes. There is a lot of waste out there. But the things we're talking
about aren't because the retailers are uncaring people who want to waste
the resources of the world. The things we're talking about happen
because there are too many dishonest people in the world looking for
ways to screw the retailers -- especially the big retailers. They
justify it by saying, "who cares if I keep dumpster diving behind the
Home Depot, and keep returning the same merchandise over and over again.
They're a big company."

Figure out a way to eliminate dishonesty, and then retailers can stop
these practices that appear to be wasteful. Shrinkage isn't a small
problem. It's one thing to give away waste, like Starbuck's coffee
grounds, or the barber's piles of hair. It's quite a different story
when you start talking about merchandise that's no longer saleable.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Spend your Amazon gift certificates he
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/associateshop.html

wrote:
However there are
other routes they could take. In the case of something that has real
value (like a pair of unused shoes) they could easily start donating
these items to the local church.

Often the things that have real salvage value are also things that the
retailer gets credit from the distributor. To get that credit, they have
to ensure the distributor that they have destroyed the items in
question. Donating them to charity means they don't get credit from the
distributor.

Even when that's not the case, it's not usually feasible to keep a list
of which things need to be destroyed, and which don't need to be
destroyed. And even if you do, you're right back to the point where
people are throwing things out just so they can be salvaged.

Another issue that hasn't been brought up is if the retail store has a
customer-friendly, no questions asked policy on returns, they run the
risk of people dumpster diving, and returning the same items over and
over again.

Yes. There is a lot of waste out there. But the things we're talking
about aren't because the retailers are uncaring people who want to waste
the resources of the world. The things we're talking about happen
because there are too many dishonest people in the world looking for
ways to screw the retailers -- especially the big retailers. They
justify it by saying, "who cares if I keep dumpster diving behind the
Home Depot, and keep returning the same merchandise over and over again.
They're a big company."

Figure out a way to eliminate dishonesty, and then retailers can stop
these practices that appear to be wasteful. Shrinkage isn't a small
problem. It's one thing to give away waste, like Starbuck's coffee
grounds, or the barber's piles of hair. It's quite a different story
when you start talking about merchandise that's no longer saleable.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Spend your Amazon gift certificates he
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/associateshop.html