When I worked in the fast food world, I witnessed a lot—and I do mean a lot—of waste. We threw away buckets of food every day, and I know we were the most conservative about our waste when compared to many other restaurants. I can only imagine what some of the chain stores throw out on a daily basis.

But now that I have been privy to what is happening in the retail and supermarket sector when it comes to waste, I am even more shocked. Everything from tables to food, baby gear paper products to all of the sale printings is completely wasted.  Display items like car seats, toy boxes and kitchen tables can be tossed right into the compactor any—and every—given day, wasting lots of labor, product, trees, and worse. Many of these products are made from child and slave labor (which are often the same thing), thereby making our wastefulness even more despicable.