Melissa and I have an ongoing debate about waste.

It’s very important to us to eliminate waste.  We don’t understand how Americans can be so wasteful.

I’m talking about waste in the household—money and garbage.

Here is Melissa and I’s question: Is it better to save money and leave more garbage, or better to produce less garbage but spend more money?

Example:  I can buy a 2-liter bottle of Coke for $1.00 on sale.  Or I can buy a 20 oz bottle of Coke (less than half) for $1.29.

When Melissa and I were on the road, we didn’t have a good way to keep extra pop around.  We also wouldn’t want to drink a 2-liter in one sitting by ourselves.

So, is it better to save the money and buy the 2-liter, but throw the excess away?  Or is it better to spend a little more on a 20 oz and not waste the extra soda?

Another example:  We could buy a pint of ice cream for $2.50, or a quart for $3.00.  We could get by with warm pop the next day, but there’s no way that we could keep ice cream.

Assuming the ice cream was of equal quality, is it better to spend a little more but eat it all, or is it better to save the money and throw away the leftover ice cream?

It’s funny how our world works.  Buying more for less doesn’t make any sense at all.  Economy of scale and the cost of convenience are to blame I suppose.

Our American minds are trained to save money above all (respect the almighty dollar), but try and consider the question outside of that mindset.

The question:  Is it better to eliminate wasted money, or is it better to eliminate wasted commodities?

Extra points if you can guess which side I’m on and which side Melissa takes.

Please leave your thoughts below, this isn’t something Melissa and I are going to agree on without your help.