I tried. I wrote a letter to the ceo of a major company I worked for. I wanted to give/donate our "less than perfect" merchandise to local day care centers and nursing homes. I got a polite letter from some faceless drone saying thank you for your letter, blah, blah. What I didn't find out until later was that I was immediately marked to be watched as I was now considered "a trouble maker". But the manager couldn't fire me because I was otherwise making the store (and him) look very good. I've always felt the U.S. could feed, clothe and educate a third world country just on the stuff we waste and/or throw away in a month's time. I need to get off my soap box right now. cora

I once asked a friend who worked in a major chain grocery why they threw away vegetables that were slightly discolored or bruised instead of donating them to shelters. His answer was that they couldn't donate them for fear of lawsuit if anybody got sick and their food was anywhere around.
As long as we have a society that rewards people for spilling coffee in their lap and suing the company for not labeling it 'HOT' or someone falling off the top step of a ladder and suing because the 'Do Not Stand On Top Step' wasn't in large enough letters or not in his native language of Ulan Bator, the problem of waste will never be solved.
If I were really paranoid I'd be worrying that somebody would claim to get sick from a Red Cross donut and sue everybody that donated to it.
Until our society holds these idiots up to ridicule instead of condoning their stupidity, things won't change.
Now I have to get back to my suit against hammer makers for not having a warning label 'Keep Fingers Away From Striking Surface of This Device'. :-)

So true-- I love the argument that there is some sort of burden of liability the stores are forced to bear. I mean, really; even if by chance no law exists that frees the store of liability once the donated product enters the hand of the consumer, something tells me it wouldn't be difficult for there to be one. I had always imagined this would be a win/win situation, where the producer gets to write off a donation of a product they would otherwise have to pay to put in the landfill, right? Alas. Well, I'd better go back to working on my Ulan Bator-ese translations of this post ;) Thanks for letting me vent! Glad (?) to hear I'm not alone!

Correct me if I'm wrong here...but...wouldn't a lot of pigs/hogs go hungry if that food went for human consumption? Let's get our piorities straight here :-)

IF one contracts to pick up food garbage for their pigs, no pigs go hungry - not even the two-legged type whose sole diet is money. BUT - I'm not sure if food garbage is still permitted to be collected for one's pigs. They probably passed a law banning it for some inane reason years ago. I've not raised a pig since grade school. cora

When I worked for a major drug store chain in PA, you would not believe the amount of paperback books that we ripped the covers from and threw in the dumpster every month! We were told that anyone taking any of the books would be fired. They had to be put in the dumpster. We asked if they could be sold at a discount or given to a nursing home and they said no.

Now you have to realize that every place that sells books does this so think of all the waste of trees and money. Makes you crazy!

Julie

I work for a major retailer in NY and I've got to say that we send a lot of products to Goodwill every day--boxes upon boxes. Some manufacturer's don't allow their products to go to Goodwill, so those have to be dumped, but the vast majority does go to someone in need.

From a manager's POV, perhaps those damaged plants had been put through their computer system in a way that would not have let them sell them anymore--and they certainly don't want to sell them under the table.

I actually had a customer call and say that they had returned a personal dvd player and could I please check and see if their Nintendo DS Lite ac adapter was in there by mistake. When I explained that it had been marked "defective" and sent away on a truck to Goodwill she then asked if we could call the truck back. LOL. Now I felt bad, but there are times when there's just no going back...especially when it had been several days before. Honestly.

Usually don't BOX stores mark their damaged plants for some sort of clearance? I've seen Lowes, HD, and Wal-Mart do this quite a lot. Hmm...still seems cruel to just throw those plants that "can be saved" in a dumpster to spite you.

I had the same thing happen. Not only with plants though!I never have returned a dead plant to them.
One day I went Highs(LOL) and asked where the oops paint was. I was doing a set design for church. he said." I know what you people are up to so we aren't selling it anymore.I said what???????with a dazed look on my face
he said YOU peple have us mix up paint and bring it back saying it is wrong.Then you wait 45 minutes and return to the store and buy it for $5!!!!
I guess Im dumb cuz THAT never crossed my mind! Anyway I guess they carry it again only they add a smidge of a diff color. I don't care I just needed cheap paint!

I confess to buying alot off the Lowes clearance plant racks, even if I don't need another plant.
HD, on the other hand pulled the same plant thing on me but with 3 lg Spaths. In the garbage and don't touch.
HOWEVER after seeing the abuse of the online coupons offered recently, I can understand how a few bad apples can ruin it for the rest.

One more thing to consider: Sometimes those sick plants are sick from fungual disease from over watering. The dumpster might be the best place for them. It is possible to revive them but they would need to be treated w/ a fungicide.

I think some of what happens at the box stores depends on the manager. I've always found Lowe's more willing to discount things to get rid of it than HD. The ONLY plant I've ever seen marked down (50%) at HD were orchids no longer in bloom.

I work for a major retailer in NY and I've got to say that we send a lot of products to Goodwill every day--boxes upon boxes. Some manufacturer's don't allow their products to go to Goodwill, so those have to be dumped, but the vast majority does go to someone in need.

Many of you know that I currently work for Goodwill. One major retailer - who proudly advertises that they make large donations to community charities - does give us truckloads of goods each month. The money we make selling these perfectly good products is used to train and place people into jobs that have the potential to change their lives. It makes me crazy when I see unsold products just discarded! They could be doing so much good. I don't care who it goes to, but it should go to someone and not into the trash.

Keep asking and keep writing letters. If you can get just one company to change their policy it would be a good thing.

Well said, Solstice, because there are MANY people in need. Every little donation counts :)

Last week I returned 2 NEW never been planted Pholidendron's to Lowe's and they told me they were going in the trash. I was shocked cause they usually mark down returned & store damaged plants.......... but these were NEW with tags 1 week old plants. I felt bad to return them and felt the guilt of destroying 2 perfectly good plants. Really sucks.

Gasp! Even Lowe's?? Oh, they really should be ashamed! That's good to know; next time I have something that I was planning to take back to Lowe's I'll sell it on Craig's List instead so at least it goes to a good home. Oooo-- these box stores make me SO mad!

Jane

Maybe they cannot resell plants that have been returned because of legal reasons? pathogens that might spread? just a thought. I don't think they really want to throw them away but they may HAVE to if the department of agriculture makes them.