A Home Depot shopper couldn't understand why they couldn't purchase imperfect plants at a discount — or even at all. Instead, an employee told them they had to be thrown away. 

What's happening?

A Reddit user explained in the r/houseplants subreddit that they saw a cart "filled to the brim" with broken or slightly damaged plants. They were shocked when a Home Depot employee told them they couldn't rescue the plants. "I wanted to share my heartbreak and disgust," they wrote. 

Other Redditors were also upset. 

"That is ridiculous. What a waste. Wow," one person said. 

However, others urged shoppers not to blame workers for policies outside of their control. 

"Okay as someone who used to do this please don't blame the person working they are just doing their job, trust me it breaks our hearts too," someone shared. 

Why is this important?

While tossing organic waste may not seem like a big deal, discarding items in bulk wastes land, labor, water, and energy. Ultimately, this can lead to higher prices for consumers. 

Moreover, when plants break down, they release powerful heat-trapping gases such as methane. Once it reaches the atmosphere, methane has a warming effect on Earth that is 86 times stronger than carbon dioxide. This indirectly impacts our food crops, per the Climate & Clean Air Coalition, which noted that methane contributes to up to 15% of annual losses of staple crops.

Is Home Depot doing anything about this?

Even though plant waste appears to be an ongoing issue at Home Depot locations, several commenters suggested it is the fault of individual vendors rather than the retailer itself.

"This is the policy of the vendor. And SOME of the plant vendors throw away the unsold plants instead of marking them down," one person said. 

Would you be more likely to shop at a store that paid you for your old stuff? Absolutely 💯 Only if they make it easy 😎 Depends on the store 🤔 Nope 👎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Yet another commenter suggested the problem was more complex: "Not true. The reason vendors cannot mark any plants down is because of Home Depot's refund policy — if we mark down a plant that costs 20 dollars for 10, the customer can return it for 20 dollars and Depot eats the cost of the vendor mark down. That's why the only price cuts have to be orchestrated."

Home Depot does list circularity as one of its sustainability pillars. It says it strives to sell products designed to last and intended for reuse, recycling, or composting. 

While The Cool Down couldn't find details about any company-wide initiatives to minimize plant waste, associates at one location began composting organic materials rather than throwing them away. 

What can be done about this more broadly?

You can turn your food scraps and plant waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer with a home compost bin. In addition to saving you money on yard essentials, composting food waste alone could reduce methane production by up to 84%, according to a study in the journal Scientific Reports.

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