Quirky things you do

There are things I do that I think are logical but others would consider quirky.

I get the side eye when I put empty dog food cans in the dishwasher because it’s easier to get them clean that way before putting in the recycling.

I talk to my wife about actuarial stuff like she has any clue what I’m talking about, and when her eyes glaze over I continue as if the more I talk about it the better the chance it sinks in for her.

When I start to go down a set of stairs, I have to start the descent by putting my feet together and then leading with the left. Only the first flight, though. If I go down multiple floors, I don’t have to do it at any other point besides the start of the descent.

I have never been to Texas, but my standard greeting is “howdy”. I have no idea why. I must have said it once and it just stuck, but I don’t remember when that happened.

Cans don’t need to be completely clean for recycling. Once the food dries out, much, if not all of it, will be expelled by all the jostling they will take from getting thrown in the bucket, then the can, then cascading into the truck, then rumbling along on the truck and then being dumped out of the truck then being moved to the conveyor belt and then bumping around on the conveyor belt…

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Followup, from RecycleCoach:

To rinse, or not to rinse your recyclables. That is the question.

And if you do need to rinse, what about “sticky” stuff like yogurt that clings to the sides of the container?

You may have pondered these questions as you hovered indecisively over your bin, wondering if it’s OK to drop your containers in as-is. Especially if you’ve heard that the water usage takes away from recycling savings.

It used to be that some cities, such as Chicago, didn’t need residents to rinse their recyclables. They took on the job of cleaning materials themselves. But Chicago and more areas like it now ask residents to remove the bulk of food residue.

A quick rinse is fine—there’s no need to make it clean enough to eat off of. The heat process can burn off small amounts of stuck-on food. And to make the process even more earth friendly, you can even re-use dish water.

Single-stream challenges

If your community uses single-stream recycling, where all of your recyclable materials are put in one bin and separated at the recycling facility, there is another factor to consider, too.

Even if your unrinsed yogurt container, soda can or other residue-containing item is upright when you put it into the bin, after being dumped into the truck, bounced along for miles and compressed, there’s a pretty good chance that somewhere along the way whatever started off inside will come out.

That’s bad news for any paper or cardboard that might be on board. While a drop of yogurt might not make a huge difference, it adds up. And even a small bit of oil or grease (salad dressing, anyone?) can ruin the entire load of paper recyclables.

The bottom line: rinse recyclables, seriously

Need specific information for where you live?

Wondering about recycling instructions for items in your municipality? Use our Find My Municipality tool and learn recycling information specific to your municipality.

You don’t need to scrub those plastic and glass containers with soap and water to make them clean enough to eat off of. But taking a moment to give them a rinse, even if it’s just with dishwater runoff, will ensure that they end up getting processed. For more helpful tips and tricks on handling your household waste, download the Recycle Coach app for free. If your city’s a member of our network, we’ll hook you up with information customized to where you live.

Quirky:

I need to make sure all the bills in my wallet are facing the same way. Face side up, right side on the right side. Plus all in denomination order, with singles on top.

I read once about an OCD lady who did all that plus put the bills in serial number order, but I don’t do that.

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I’m certain I’m oblivious to most of the weird shit I do. I need people to tell me if it’s weird.

A couple of things that I’ve thought about maybe appearing weird to others:
(1) I almost always sit in my office chair cross legged and covered with a blanket (this was true even at the office when I had a cube). I can’t say that I’ve walked into anybody else’s cube and saw that.
(2) I have no problem sitting on floors. Or the ground. Again, I didn’t think this was weird until I thought about how other people don’t just plop down wherever they are standing on the regular.

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My mom does that - but she worked as a bank teller for 20+ years, so it’s somewhat underdtandable.

I do this most of the time I am at my desk.

When I worked in retail for a tiny bit it was one of the things we were taught we were supposed to do. Nobody took it to heart except me, I think.

Humble brag about having cash…

2 singles and a fiver count as “having cash” I guess…

This is quirky? I thought this is normal. Sometimes I’d separate bills meant for something else (like chipping in for a gift) by folding in half and tucking in front or behind the rest of the bills. That was in the before times tho.

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I do that, too.

Like when I need $200 for the hooker. I take 10 $20s and fold them so it’s easier to grab them out.

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Yeah, maybe just having cash nowadays puts one in a small minority. I feel naked if I am not walking around with at least $20 to $30 in my wallet. I still prefer using cash for transactions smaller than $20, but most people I know these days carry no cash and will whip out a CC or DC to pay for a small transaction like buying a bottle of pop.

So yeah, I carry cash mostly for lunch money, but that may mean I am old and quirky.

Or a $100 to tip at Applebee’s

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Hookers, drug dealers and “immigrant” workers all deal in cash, so I always need to have some around.

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Oddie has a couple hundreds sitting around since we had to pay the movers in cash and he had leftover dollhairs - it sounds like a lot of money until you realize that nobody really accepts $100 bills.