I have noticed that most of us use what we can easily access from a container and then throw the remnants and container away. But not me! I use e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g in a container no matter what it contained. And I save the container to boot.

Take peanut butter for instance, most knifes or fingers (oh yes you do) can't reach all the curves of the container. To remedy this I purchased a neat little plastic knife (called Compac Jelly Knife Spreader Plastic Knife for Peanut Butter and Jelly) made with all kinds of curves so I can reach all those hard to get areas; like under the rim, on the sides and the contours around the bottom of the container. Now I can get every last drop ... er, scoop of the yummy peanut butter out. Heck, most times there even enough scraped up to make whole other sandwich!  And I can use the knife with all kinds of jars and containers. 

And lip stick? At a cost of $6-$15 a tube; sometimes even more depending on where and from whom you purchase it (sorry for the spoiler alert guys), you bet I’m going to get my money’s worth!  It amazes me how many will stop using the lipstick when it becomes flush with the top of the tube - or when the tube stops winding. Most think this is where the lipstick ends. But in truth, there is actually almost as much remaining in the tube as the amount that sticks out of the tube. To remedy this, I purchased a lip brush (E.l.f. Retractable Lip Brush) so I could use the rest of the lipstick in the tube. Well actually, I initially used my pinky finger but got tired of walking around with a stained red finger all day so I got the brush.  Just sayin'.

Our wastefulness can be said for so many things we use - food, personal hygiene items, and household items.  For instance, do you take the time to squeeze every last bit of toothpaste out of the tube? Or, turn a bottle of ketchup or shampoo upside down to get everything out?  Or, lay your honey jar on the side to get all the honey out?  I’m gonna guess no.  We don't have the patience to take that extra step. And in all honesty, why bother when we have more where they came from, right?  But what if we didn't?  What if it was the only tube of toothpaste that we had? Or last bottle of ketchup, or shampoo?  Would we then make the effort to scrape out every last bit of whatever the container contained?

Think back for a minute. As kids it was common place to lick anything that had any hint of what we were eating on it - a lid, the stem of a spoon. Heck we’d even licked our forearms if anything rolled down it (yes you did.)  Some of us even got to lick the beaters from mom’s mixer after she mixed up the batter.

What I am saying is this. We are such consumers that we have forgotten that there may come a time when we are faced with “the last bottle” of something.  As with other lessons, we as preppers we need to reprogram ourselves to start using up everything we are consuming.  We need to stop wasting so much. Prices are going up on just about everything and yet we continue to purchase. Could some of those purchases be needless?  If the poo ever hit the fan, we will have lots of time to scrape and squeeze to get things out of jars and tubes - because it may be all we have. Why not start now? 

The next time you go to throw something away make sure it has been “good to the last drop”.  And if it hasn’t? Make sure it is. Oh and save the container - it just might come in handy to hold something to barter with in the future.

Just sayin'.

- Survivor Jane

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