The surprising afterlife of used hotel soap

[frazzled]

18. I don't think you can put soap in most modern washing machines

Most require HE detergents.

My mother-in-law used to keep all the scraps of saran wrap, wash them, and use them for rewrapping, as well as the plastic bags (which are thankfully banned in my city, though I do use the thin produce bags for other purposes rather than throwing them out right away, and take reusable vegetable bags to the farmer's market.) I used to think she was kind of crazy.

But she, like my own mother, was a product of the depression. My mother's thing was enforcing turning out a light as soon as a room was left, and allowing only an inch or two of water in the tub, to conserve. Brrrr!

Our parents (or grandparents, depending on your age) were, perhaps unwittingly, or just because they were cheap, much better stewards of the environment than we are.