# Wasted supplies



## kogneto

So I just found out that after a guest checks out, the hotel I work at just tosses all the amenities and replaces them with fresh stuff. 

Apparently it's easier to do that than to check whether they've actually used them, but the advantage comes in that while it's crappy soap/shampoo/conditioner/lotion, it's actually pretty good sewing-kits(including mini-scissors and extra buttons)/toothpaste(crest)/combs/matchbooks.

I talked to my new manager and while she agrees it seems like a waste, it's something corporate sent out as a "quality assurance" guarantee. She says she doesn't mind if the stuff doesn't make it to the trash, just so long as we don't fall below a minimum number of stuff on hand at the front desk.

Guess who's got 2 thumbs and just got the hookup? :2thumb: this guy!


Edit: I meant to ask, the shelf life on this toothpaste is only about a year. Any good longer shelf life stuff? I mean does it really matter if after a couple years you use it? I don't think it would go bad, but what's some good storing techniques?


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## HozayBuck

I think a lot of that shelf life stuff is just BS by the folks wanting to sell more...

Ever heard to old wives tale about how you can't thaw foods and then refreeze them? 

well that was one of the urban legends that was tracked down , it turned out the the one of the first company's to offer frozen foods was "Birdseye" and supposedly it was tracked back to them where they actually said...Thawing and refreezing "MAY" cause a loss of quality...makes more sense huh?

I'd use it...now meds is a different story...no idea...


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## kogneto

yeah meds are one thing I wouldn't mess with, I know most of the time smell tells a lot, as aspirin turns into vinegar when it rots (i think it's aspirin, too tired to google it) but it's pretty obvious

any meds people keep in supply other than their own personal selection? I guess this would fit into the medicine section, but it's in relation to your kits!


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## opsec

> Any good longer shelf life stuff?


Baking soda. Works just fine as a replacement for toothpaste and has an eternal shelf life.


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## kogneto

opsec said:


> Baking soda. Works just fine as a replacement for toothpaste and has an eternal shelf life.


I remember hearing a professor say that the salesman for baking soda should win an award. It's the only product on earth that people will pay to flush down the toilet. Plus it has almost unlimited uses.


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## backlash

When I traveled a lot I would save all the free stuff.
Then I gave it to homeless shelters or the VA hospital.


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## drhwest

I swear I read this article on here somewhere, but here it is again for those that haven't seen it. It is a good article on the shelf life of drugs.

Antibiotics and Expiration Dates - Wall Street Journal


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## sailaway

I'm one of those who takes the spare soap and shampoo with him when he checks out. Mrs. Sailaway just roles her eyes when she looks in my suit case at home.


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## sinbad

> Mrs. Sailaway just roles her eyes when she looks in my suit case at home.


LOL 

Mrs Sinbad does the same when I take those small packets of salt/pepper/sugar and what not from fast food chain.

I mean we paid for them, and she wants me to leave them on the tray to be tossed in the trash. 

Besides, where else can I find such valuable items for my emergency kits ???


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## sailaway

sinbad said:


> LOL
> 
> Mrs Sinbad does the same when I take those small packets of salt/pepper/sugar and what not from fast food chain.
> 
> I mean we paid for them, and she wants me to leave them on the tray to be tossed in the trash.
> 
> Besides, where else can I find such valuable items for my emergency kits ???


I don't know where else I can find small quantities for free. Small sizes usually cost more per an oz. I'm a recovering cost accountant also.


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## TechAdmin

sailaway said:


> I'm one of those who takes the spare soap and shampoo with him when he checks out. Mrs. Sailaway just roles her eyes when she looks in my suit case at home.


My wife makes me take them. She says they're just going to throw them out any ways. They sit under her sink and she's starting to get a good collection of them.

I keep the cutlery packs. She argues about that. Funny.


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## Idaholady

I've been taking the small bars of soap when I stay at a motel; I've been doing this off and on for a couple of years. I now have a nice supply to be able to barter with when things get bad. I am also buying the small toothpastes from time to time,for bartering as well.. When times get tough; it will be nice to be able to help some homeless folks out too.


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## mdprepper

My in-laws always bring the stuff from hotels home for my son. I pack them in his kit when he goes camping with the scouts and for summer camp. I send a couple that way if he forgets one in the shower room he has a back up in his bag. (The summer camp throws away anything left in the bath house after the kids are done their turns)


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## HozayBuck

Dean said:


> My wife makes me take them. She says they're just going to throw them out any ways. They sit under her sink and she's starting to get a good collection of them.
> 
> I keep the cutlery packs. She argues about that. Funny.


I too keep the extra salt and pepper packets, and take the goodies from the motel..

As for the cutlery packs ALWAYS take them!!... there's two thing any old Grunt can tell you, never forget your spoon and your neck towel ... they just make life better... some place I have a whole bunch of the tiny bottles of hot sauce..

When I'm on the road and stop at some fast food place I always go inside because I can get my order to go and stop and put a bunch of the condiments and a big batch of napkins in the sack...the napkins are good for many things!! and in a pinch beat the hell outta leaves... 

One of the best and cheapest items you can stock pile is hydrogen peroxide, I use it before I brush my teeth , it's great for cleaning wounds, hell I even mix 2 ox's of that and 2 of dish soap with 16 oz's of water and clean my black powder weapons with it... and it cleans fast!! one or two swipes dpwn the bore and your good to go...


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## UncleJoe

HozayBuck said:


> I even mix 2 ox's of that and 2 of dish soap with 16 oz's of water and clean my black powder weapons with it... and it cleans fast!! one or two swipes dpwn the bore and your good to go...


Never even thought of that. I have a small stock of HP. That's a lot cheaper than the bottles of cleaning solution. :2thumb:


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## mosquitomountainman

I put about 2 oz. of dish soap in a gallon of winshield washer antifreeze for cleaning mine. I can store it in the shed without worry that it will freeze and it does a good job cleaning too.


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## Tribal Warlord Thug

mrs. rabidcoyote says leave the damnable decaff behind (of course, she knows i can't)....other than that...take it all......lol pack rats forever..


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## HozayBuck

Today's trash is tomorrows treasure... how many plastic grocery bags get tossed? how many plastic milk jugs?.. I keep and reuse Ctg cheese containers, why buy tupper ware? if the shtf bad enough these items will be gone, maybe for ever, which is fine but they have many uses...even now..think about "After"... 

up above we were speaking of black powder weapons, one nice thing about BP rifles, is that they don't have the sharp loud crack of a modern rifle, in timber it's really hard to hear on if you even a few hundred yards away.. just a thought, and also there are many uses for BP....nuff said...

Something I hadn't thought about is stock piling the stuff to make trot lines, as a kid I made many of them, easy way to have plenty of fish without standing on a bank with a pole... we used limb lines a lot too... they work great too..


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## UncleJoe

mosquitomountainman said:


> I put about 2 oz. of dish soap in a gallon of windshield washer antifreeze for cleaning mine. I can store it in the shed without worry that it will freeze and it does a good job cleaning too.


And the alternatives just keep coming. :2thumb: :thankyou:


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## Jason

Most hotels also have pens and little notepads in the rooms. We always snatch them up when we stay somewhere. It's just a little thing, but every little bit helps. Also, county fair exhibitors will frequently have pens, pencils, pads, little fans, etc. for the taking.


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## Bigdog57

Wendy's has the stoutest plasticware of any fastfood joints - I pick up several of each (fork, knife, spoon) each time I eat there - about once a month.


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## kyhoti

Moist towelettes! Can't get enough of them. I have had a whole pack of babywipes dry out in a day after sitting in the glove box. Not so with those lemon-scented, foiled lined beauties. I pocket all that are given me when at the local rib joints.


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## ZoomZoom

kyhoti said:


> Moist towelettes! Can't get enough of them. I have had a whole pack of babywipes dry out in a day after sitting in the glove box. Not so with those lemon-scented, foiled lined beauties. I pocket all that are given me when at the local rib joints.


Interesting. I've had both go dry on me.

I use baby wipes all the time (shop, truck...). If they do dry out, just add a little water to them.


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## HarleyRider

*Babywipes???*

Interesting thought... Babywipes. Never thought about wiping my hands with a baby.  

(I know.... BAD Harley!!)


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## The_Blob

HarleyRider said:


> Interesting thought... Babywipes. Never thought about wiping my hands with a baby.
> 
> (I know.... BAD Harley!!)


<<whacks Harley on the nose with a rolled up newspaper>>

BAD Harley! that's a bad bad Harley! :smilieimg: :lolsmash:


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## Bigdog57

If your Baby Wipes dry out, cut them into gun cleaning patches! Never waste a usable item! :2thumb:

(Hehehe..... Heard THAT before..... My sister once had a precocious pup named "Harley"!)


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## JeepHammer

Every production company has 'Waste'...
I have the 'Custodian' guys pick up electronic components and trade them to me so I have stockpiles of everything they use at the electronics company.
I have more resistors, capacitors, diodes than I'll use in a life time of 'Tinkering' for myself,
But if something happens and I go into production of some of the things I tinker with, who knows...

I pick up all the nuts, bolts, cotter keys, ect. dropped (Magnet) before the swept up stuff makes it to the dumpster every day...
I'll sort it later at home and put it in MY bolt bins,

I have guys at the big mines that sort the tools out of the trash.
Big mines the guys don't bother to reuse the hand tools, so I have a pretty good collection of ratchets, sockets, extensions, wrenches, ect. from that source...
Even dozens of hammers, everything from a few ounces to 20 pound sledge hammers.

I NEVER walk by starters, alternators, ect. when they are discarded.
Nothing like having those 'Cores' to play with, and some of them are quite valuable.
Picked up a couple of Bosch starters for heavy equipment that sold for $1,400 each as 'Cores', and that was a GOOD find for just picking them up and transporting them to the rebuild shop...

If nothing else, you can sell them for 'Motor' weight at the salvage yard,
Or you can break them for the aluminum, steel, clean cast iron, copper, ect.
I screw around with that when I don't have anything else to do and I'm bored.
Pays about $40 an hour around here, not bad for what is normally 'Wasted' time...

I was recently welding for a local in his garage,
He had 14 hams from the Amish his company was mining coal off of,
Said he didn't want them because they were 'Moldy' and he was afraid his registered dogs would get sick from them...
I said I had 'Mutts' and would discard them for him!
REALLY good, honey cured hams hanging in my cold storage now!
Those things sell for $40 each around here!

Just keep your eyes open!
I found a guy wanting to get rid of 'Old Barrels' a while back...
Loaded up a semi-trailer full of food grade STAINLESS STEEL open top barrels (With lids and bands!) for the cost of transport!
Those sold for $35 each and went like hot cakes!
(They were used for transport of coconut oil for theater popcorn)

I load up on forks, spoons, knives, and all those condiment packages when I get fast food...
Recycled peanut butter, peanut, mayo jars keep them handy and stored, and cost you NOTHING to store since both the jars and packets are free.

Spices on the go are NEVER a bad thing, and disposable flat ware never hurts anything since it doesn't go bad and doesn't eat anything to store...
Hands full of napkins from the fast food joints work GREAT for everything from toilet paper to field expedient bandages.

I find the MILD taco sauce really livens up my 'Field Creations' when camping, and when eating in the shop, so they are ALWAYS around and get rotated.


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## siafulinux

opsec said:


> Baking soda. Works just fine as a replacement for toothpaste and has an eternal shelf life.


Amen. I gave up regular toothpaste a long time ago, wanting to avoid the fluoride or whatever was in it that I believe was causing problems with my teeth, and have had no problems since then.


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## wildone_uk

the mrs thinks i,m nuts when pocket the small conaments from Mcdonalds but why not they
only go in the bin


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## vja4Him

drhwest said:


> I swear I read this article on here somewhere, but here it is again for those that haven't seen it. It is a good article on the shelf life of drugs.
> 
> Antibiotics and Expiration Dates - Wall Street Journal


Doesn't surprise me one bit! I've been stocking up on many different kinds of medications, and have used some that were 5-10 years old, and they still worked just fine! I do rotate my medications though, and especially I keep a fresh supply in my bicycle camping pack and survival packs, just in case ....


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## iprepare143

kogneto said:


> I remember hearing a professor say that the salesman for baking soda should win an award. It's the only product on earth that people will pay to flush down the toilet. Plus it has almost unlimited uses.


1)If we mix baking soda with peroxide, it helps in whitening the teeth.
2) We can also make the scrubs by mixing baking soda with face soap.
3) If we mix basin and water and a half cup of baking soda, so this mixture helps in softening the feet.

So, Baking soda helps in Beauty also.


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## iprepare143

Dean said:


> My wife makes me take them. She says they're just going to throw them out any ways. They sit under her sink and she's starting to get a good collection of them.
> 
> I keep the cutlery packs. She argues about that. Funny.


Cutlery packs are the good source of packaging. they can be used for 2 or 3 times for packaging. so, so, you can keep the cutlery packs.


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