Baal Tashchis | Imamother

Mimisinger

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 8:54 pm

We all give MM. Many of us spend a lot of time and money on MM. How much of it is thrown away?

I'm not even talking about candy and junk food.

I'm talking about things that look pretty, but no one is going to actually eat.

Why do we do this to ourselves? We spend so much time and energy on things that are definitely going into the trash!

imasinger

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:01 pm

ITA.

I am sending grape juice, chocolate, a small pack of gourmet cookies (pareve, with good hechsher), and a salad. I hope my recipients will enjoy it.

My kids give nosh to their friends.

Anything not eaten in 2 weeks or so will go to the vultures in DH's office.

33055

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:12 pm

I do it because it is fun and the kids love it. ITA about the waste. It is a last hurrah before Pesach. I used to give KLP chocolate and wine but no one ever seemed to appreciate it as much. I guess it was practical so it took away the fun.

BTW I have a giant collection of airline bottles of booze from MM. Now that I can't give away to a yeshiva.

youngishbear

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:13 pm

Imasinger, I send a tiny container with very few foods, none of them gooey or wasteful. But inside the container I put a piece of tulle, and I put the cookies in a little bag, and hang a little tag with our name...

All that paraphanelia... it adds up.

yogabird

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:17 pm

I like making things look pretty and was very tempted to buy really nice boxes and beautiful ribbons, but when I realized it was going to be close to 2.00 per package *just on wrappings that get dumped in the garbage* I scrapped that and stuck with plain cellophane bags and simple ribbon.

Wasting stuff hurts my heart.

imasinger

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:21 pm

youngishbear wrote:

I save the gift bags and reusable containers. This year, all the recycled gift bags I had are being given a second life. So they won't match, who's gonna care?

But it sounds like your MM is pretty reasonable and simple. No confetti or stuff.

Mimisinger

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:23 pm

I hear that about the wrappings which I also try to limit, because you can easily get carried away in the Purim Container Aisle at Amazing Savings.

But also the food, I mean some is gross - cupcakes that aren't packaged correctly so come completely smushed. But really, there are some foods that I see people posting on facebook, that are just not real food. They're decorated blobs of icing, etc. They're so decorated that they're just pretty, not edible.

zaq

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:23 pm

Well, there IS an element of hiddur mitzvah here. You could send MM in a reused paper lunch sack, but doing so would not exactly enhance the mitzvah. Still, a little goes a long way. The packaging should not cost more than the contents. Which is a pretty good rule of thumb for most things, come to think of it.

greenfire

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:36 pm

a few hamentash in a baggie tied to a bottled l'chaim

the amount I give out have diminished sizeably over the years for varied reasons

MiracleMama

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:40 pm

Although we eat almost nothing we receive in MM, not one thing is tossed in the garbage. Every year DH brings everything to his office for his employees to enjoy. I can't understand why anyone would throw out food. It doesn't take much effort to find someone glad to have it.

youngishbear

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 9:44 pm

zaq wrote:

I guess hiddur mitzvah is a good way of making myself feel better for dropping $$ at the party goods store.

And I love your rule!

zaq

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 10:00 pm

imasinger wrote:

A woman after mine own heart. I have not spent a cent on MM packaging in years. I collect stuff to reuse all year round--including shredded paper "grass"-- and the collection never seems to get any smaller because no sooner do I reuse stuff for MM than I get reusable stuff back! Since my packaging is all different, no one can ID my MM at a glance, so people can't look at other people's tables and say "Look at that, Zaq gave to the Schmaichels but not to the Farbisseners, I wonder why?"

miami85

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 10:08 pm

Purim is the canvas for my creativity. It's my creative outlet for the year. I try my best to make food that will be either appreciated for it's presentation or the taste. I also try to do something that has lesson or "Purim Torah." I do try to do themes that can be done simply and tastefully as well.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 10:12 pm

Paper lunch bags, stickers, and markers - put the kids to work!

When DD was 4 I had her decorate all the bags, and 7 years later people still remember how cute they were.

Inside: a granola bar, tangerine, and juice box. Add a nice note, and you're done. Very Happy

amother

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 10:13 pm

MiracleMama wrote:

Yeah, like my cleaning lady who has only gotten cake and candies from the woman whom she cleans for on Sunday and Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday... or like my coworkers who have their own stash to get rid of ? Or my husband's clients who are schoolkids on a sugar high????
I try to get creative, like one year a coworkers grandchild was in the hostpital so we donated our nosh to the nurses on the floor. But otherwise, sorry, all the candies go straight into the trash. THe cakes I save for Shabbas treat/dessert and the grape juices we drink. The bags get reused.

oliveoil

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 10:31 pm

MiracleMama wrote:

some of the stuff people send out is just not edible. Overly handled and shaped. etc.

Someone here was walking about covering cake with food roll up and then popcorn to make a pizza cake. in my house and most people I know, that would go straight in the garbage.

In general, I think the whole theme obsession causes a lot of waste. Those ones are the least edible.

yogabird

Tue, Mar 03 2015, 10:47 pm

MiracleMama wrote:

I don't consider candy (the sugary, artificially colored and flavored type) real food and have no compunctions about trashing those.

The other stuff (cookies, wafers, chocolate) are more legit, but I wonder if I'd be doing humanity a bigger favor by just dumping those also instead of recycling.

Rutabaga

Wed, Mar 04 2015, 1:34 am

Any packaged goods that we receive which we won't (or shouldn't) eat gets donated to Tomchei Shabbos or the local food pantry.

We keep sufficient candy to supply shabbos party nosh for a while, but get rid of the really awful stuff.

Luckily, while some people who give us m"m do themes, none of them give out anything inedible.

The m"m that we give out are themed because we enjoy it, but we give real food rather than junk. Over the years the homemade components have included various baked goods as well as soup and ethnic foods. All were well received, but we generally give only to family and a very few close friends. We give to neighbors through the shul.