Scrap Bowl

If you're doing something messy which generates lots of little bits, grab a small bowl to put all them in. Saves you the constant trips to the trash can or a messy cleanup.

Especially useful for activities like peeling vegetables, which generate lots of falling sticky little bits. You could do it directly over the trash can but you run the risk of dropping things and also you're standing over a trash can for an extended length of time. You could do it on a work surface (e.g. cutting board), but now you have to scrape all the bits off the surface before you can use it for anything else. Constantly corralling the garbage into a little pile on the side is also a pain.

Peel over a bowl and it'll take half a second to dump it out in the trash after, without any of the other downsides. Technically it generates another dish, but in most cases a quick rinse is sufficient and you'll have plenty of other things to wash during food prep anyway.

Food prep is the most common and useful example by far, but this also applies to craft projects, cleaning, etc. Even for an activity where trash isn't falling everywhere but only being generated, such as trimming the ends off vegetables, having a designated place next to your workstation to immediately toss it saves wasted effort, focus, and motion. There is no pain quite like having to grab the vacuum because you've lost paper scraps in carpet.¹

It doesn't have to be a bowl. I often use the packaging of the relevant items, if I know I will throw it away afterwards anyway, but that's not always the case. For less messy things outside the kitchen you can reuse something relatively disposable like a small cardboard box or old tupperware, but I prefer a small metal/ceramic dish for most activities because they're the easiest to dump things out of, quick to clean, and come in sets of various sizes.

- Rew

Nightly Notes

I oscillate between preferred materials about once every three months. Wood utensils are so in right now, ...for the sphere of influence which is myself.

I do my best to avoid buying replacements unless something is broken, or even new minor quality of life items until I'm running into major difficulties without them. There's upgrades in almost every category that I've been waiting on for years, and I expect it'll be a few more before I can justify them. Doesn't save me from the cycle, but it's more likely to have settled by then.

I expect the big divergences will settle in the next few years for various reasons. I've gotten much pickier over time. Darks, to give an example.

If I wait it out I'll save much more effort and money than I would otherwise.

- Rew