Top: Waste Not, Want Not related images courtesy (left to right, top to bottom) Peerby; Maurice M. Pine Free Public Library, Fairlawn, NJ; Olio; Pierce County (WA) Conservation District , ThredUp Inc., Depop, Too Good To Go, Tilth Alliance

Sally Brown

The relationship between “waste” and “want” is something from a long time ago, in a world that now seems far, far away. Waste Not, Want Not is an old proverb. According to the google search engine AI, “The proverb emphasizes responsible resource management.”

Sound familiar? “By not being wasteful, you ensure you have enough to cover future needs.” I am a member of the bridge generation to the time when that proverb was a household mantra. My mom was a child of the depression. She never went hungry during the depression because her father had a steady job on the New York City subway and her family had a garden. But plenty of her neighbors did. My mom told stories of them coming for dinner because there would always be food enough to share in her family’s home. Her skills with fabric were learned out of necessity. Elastic too stretched out to wear? No problem, she could replace it. Hole in the elbows or knees, or in the sheet or anywhere else — patching and darning were par for the course. She was still wearing clothing purchased before I was born until she died. Rather than seeing this as a fashion ”don’t,” she took it as a matter of pride.

Three generations of thrifters. Photo courtesy Sally Brown

My son has never really known for “want” except for maybe an extra 6-inches that would have improved his basketball game. He is conscious about waste but more out of a sense of social obligation and concern for the planet, not out of any real economic need. He also does not necessarily make the same connections as us members of the bridge generation might for ways to reduce waste. Many of the tools that I know exist because of memories growing up, tools that my son is likely unaware of. He does not know from a rubber band ball or how to darn. Quilting is a hobby, not a way to use old fabric. Rag rugs are a style of area rug not another way to make use of old clothes. Despite that, my kid and others of his generation have a leg up on many of us with those distant memories. The world now has made learning forgotten skills much easier.

App Enabled Thriftiness

Here are some examples. My son did inherit an aversion to buying new. That extends from things like clothing to bicycles. He does cook, and has even started making his own granola. When getting take-out though, he will often avail himself of end-of-the-service deals (e.g., as the restaurant is closing) using an app. He is adept at looking on-line, and knows AI and Reddit and many of the other educational tools that were nonexistent when I was growing up. My son also has access to multiple places where he can use a range of tools that might be cost-prohibitive to buy.

Another member of the generation that lived through the depression recently left us. Ina Goldstein who edited my columns for many years has now passed that task onto her daughter. Nora remembers her mom’s aversion to food waste, picking meat off a chicken carcass until not a scrap remained and saving vegetable peelings to make stock (I still do that). She also bought in bulk during sales, the fear of not having enough being another remnant from the Great Depression. Plenty of pairs of unworn socks were donated after her passing.

Three generations of food waste warriors. Photo courtesy of Nora Goldstein

Ina’s grandson (and Nora’s son) has made reducing waste his career, starting out as an editor at BioCycle and now working in the surplus food space. When I asked him what “Waste Not, Want Not” means to him, he started by providing data on how much food is wasted in the U.S., then gave an example of the challenge of not wasting in real life. He was cleaning out the far reaches of his refrigerator and found two open jars of the same pesto, neither of them empty before they had expired. He also remembered stories Nora told him of how her mom would make stews for family dinners in the spirit of Waste Not, Want Not, using parts of the chicken and beef cow that were not super appetizing but were fine to eat and not be wasted. He and his sister were grateful to have not experienced that.

Plethora Of Tools

Fortunately, in 2025, there are plenty of tools to reduce waste and to satisfy wants. Here is a sampling:

• Goods sharing platforms include Peerby, a renting or borrowing website when you need extra chairs or camping gear, and Olio, great for finding items or re-homing household goods you no longer use.
• Lending or workspaces. You can even borrow wedding dresses from a library in New Jersey.
• There are a plethora of places to find used clothes, bikes etc. My son like Depop, Facebook Marketplace, and Ebay. Thredup is another standard for clothing.
• Food is a little trickier. There is an app — not for used food but for restaurant food at the end of the service. Look up Too Good to Go and see if you can get a fancy meal cooked for you for just about free.
• Compost donations and training. It is more and more common these days to have food scrap collection and composting available via municipalities or community composters. What is not as common is compost donations and training for those who want to grow their own food. Two locally are Seattle Tilth, which teaches people (and kids) how to grow and prepare food. Nutrition and meal planning are also taught. They manage community gardens and orchards. Harvest Pierce County manages over 90 community gardens, a gleaning program, education including farmer training, and plant giveaways. All participants in the community gardens are provided with compost and material to build raised beds free of charge.

Our work in organics recycling has been seen as a necessity to save the planet but primarily as a one-off for people trying to get by. As Waste Not Want Not goes to show, it can actually be both.

Sally Brown, BioCycle Senior Advisor, is a Research Professor at the University of Washington in the College of the Environment.