Americans are proverbially the greatest wasters the world ever saw. It is a common expression among European travelers in this country that a frugal French housewife could easily feed her family with the food wasted in a well-to-do American home. Granting the extravagances of such a statement, the significant fact remains that only a relatively few of us are normally thrifty. Not only in food, which may be wasted by overeating as well as by throwing it in the garbage barrel, but also in clothing, in house furnishings, and in a variety of different ways, we fail to get maximum satisfaction from our consumption. The broken pieces of bread, left-over vegetables, and bits of meat, which are too often thrown away, might very well, if sensibly and properly prepared, serve as the basis of another meal. Likewise, the overcoat, discarded after a season's wear, or the shoes thrown away simply because they need a new pair of soles, represent waste which might otherwise be utilized to the advantage of society as well as of the individual.

Any discussion of waste must necessarily involve two conflicting viewpoints: that of society, which suffers a, loss; and that of those individuals who reap a profit from waste. Clearly, the cattle-raiser, as such, is profited by the waste of meat. The manufacturers and retailers of men's clothing likewise profit by a waste of hats, overcoats, and furnishings. Not one of these men perhaps would openly encourage waste of any sort, and it is only fair to them to say that they see no waste when the goods they themselves sell are concerned. Society, however, must view the whole field and not a particular industry, though this view should be detrimental to individual enterprises. The country as a whole experienced during the first year of our war with the Central Powers this conflict between individual and social aims in the matter of waste. The government called for millions of men and billions of dollars which could be supplied only from the non-war industries. The answer was "business as usual," which from the social point of view was impossible. Individual business men set up claims that the ends of war could be furthered by buying their goods. Finally, such claims became absurd. Even florists in some sections adopted the slogan, "give flowers and win the war," while theatrical managers everywhere insisted that the morale of the people demanded an increased attendance at vaudeville and motion-picture shows.