Concerning photo from Lowe's dumpster sparks outrage online: 'Sad and wasteful'

A gardener hit the jackpot in an unexpected location — a Lowe's dumpster. 

What's happening?

The Reddit user explained in r/DumpsterDiving that their trip to Lowe's started like any other. They were buying potted plant mix, but then something caught their eye: a full-sized plant peeking out of a dumpster in the garden area. 

"I was joking with some employee about free plants out back huh? The guy said yeah sure, we didn't see anything," the original poster shared. "... Luckily, it was a smaller dumpster and I was able to reach everything inside. Lots of basil, a whole flat of habaneros, some cabbage and broccoli."  

Other Redditors mostly celebrated the OP's score. 

"Great haul! I'll have to def try that at Lowe's," one person enthused. 

"Awesome!" said another. 

Why is this important?

While the OP was buzzing after recovering goods for their garden — saving them even more money on a hobby that can already yield hundreds of dollars in savings every year — a former Lowe's employee lamented the volume of plant waste moving through the system.

"The 3rd party companies that stocked the plants would throw away the older plants for new ones regardless of how they looked. It was sad and wasteful," the ex-employee wrote. 

Growing plants requires energy, water, fertilizer, and labor, while distribution often relies on gas-guzzling trucks that produce loads of pollution. When plants end up in a dumpster, the resources and effort that went into cultivating them also go down the drain. Besides being harmful to the environment, this may also result in consumers paying more for products.  

Is Lowe's doing anything about this?

Big-box stores like Lowe's have faced significant backlash for how they've handled plant waste over the years. Home Depot also came under scrutiny after a dumpster diver revealed that at least one of its stores was sending items to the trash compactor. 

Should companies be required to help recycle their own products? Definitely 👍 No way 👎 It depends on the product 🤔 They should get tax breaks instead 💰 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

While many place the blame on third-party vendors rather than on the stores themselves, there's clearly a lost opportunity to turn organic matter into a valuable product, such as compost, while keeping unnecessary waste out of methane-producing landfills. 

For its part, Lowe's does encourage consumers to compost at home. The company's plants appear to be potted in plastic, though, which is another issue in itself. 

The company said in its most recent Corporate Responsibility Report that many of its pots and tags in the gardening section include How2Recycle labeling, and it has a take-back program to keep plastic items in circulation. However, with images of potted plants in dumpsters circulating on social media, it's fair to wonder how effective this initiative is.  

What can I do to limit resource waste more broadly?

In addition to being a money-saver, gardening can be a boon to your mental and physical health. Composting at home and taking advantage of a wealth of cost-effective hacks to minimize plastic use in your routine — like this one for toilet-paper-roll seed starters — can help support healthy ecosystems while preventing unnecessary waste.

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