Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl, huh?

May 9th, 2008

I saw something extra silly at Bed, Bath & Beyond a few days ago.

A Rachael Ray garbage bowl.

Well, I just had to read the box. Apparently she’s been promoting the use of a garbage bowl to save time while cooking. You throw your scraps in the bowl instead of making more trips to the garbage can.

Maybe it isn’t such a horrible tip to give on a cooking show, but do you really have to manufacture a whole new product with packaging for this? Why can’t cooks just use an existing bowl in their kitchen? This thing is nothing more than a large plastic mixing bowl anyway.

Rachael Ray’s garbage bowl struck me as extremely wasteful and a good example of consumerism. I don’t have anything against perky chefs, but she’s cashing in on her popularity in a bad way.

Filed under Green Choices | Comments (10)

10 Responses to “Rachael Ray Garbage Bowl, huh?”

  1. diana on May 15, 2008 9:42 am

    Perhaps you should contact her show and suggest that she instead use a compost bucket or change the packaging and call the “garbage bowl” the “garden magic bowl” :) !

  2. Peggy on May 16, 2008 2:46 am

    Great idea Diana. : )

  3. A Couple of Rachael Ray Items « Random and Sundry Things on May 29, 2008 3:18 pm

    [...] But this does seem like an example of consumerism and branding gone mad. [...]

  4. Patty on March 24, 2011 9:19 am

    It seems that the person who see this green garbage bowl as a waste doesn’t really cook or have a compost pile. I absolutely love and use my bowl on a daily basis.

  5. Peggy on March 24, 2011 2:30 pm

    Patty,

    This post is four years old, but it appears that maybe this product is still available. When I do a search for it on amazon, a lot of mixing bowls come up too. And that’s my point. Why is this needed? Or why not just put the scraps in a pile on the counter while you cook?

    As for cooking, yes I do. I do real cooking where you have veggie scraps, etc. I don’t see what this bowl really has to do with composting. You can compost without a garbage bowl. Plus, it’s called garbage bowl, not compost bowl, which means to me that you’re going to throw the stuff out, not compost it.

    If you want to use this bowl, that’s fine. I’m stating my opinion. You have a right to disagree.

  6. K on April 4, 2011 10:25 pm

    I agree- it’s a bowl to put garbage in. Simply grab an exsting bowl to put compost etc and then empty in the appropriate bin. People have been doing that for YEARS- this is just clever marketing to get us to spend, spend, spend!

  7. Rebekah Smith on August 8, 2011 7:27 am

    While an older post, it looks like this discussion has been re-opened, so I’d like to chime in. The “Garbage Bowl” is a fine idea and it’s worth whatever you’re willing to pay for it. However, its name and its marketing drives home an assumption that kitchen scraps are garbage. This assumption needs to be challenged and I was heartened to see it being challenged here. I am also challenging it on a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PleaseCompost.

  8. Peggy on August 8, 2011 2:36 pm

    Rebekah,

    Thanks for furthering this discussion and for your efforts to encourage composting.

  9. Leon on January 18, 2012 4:57 am

    I just got an email flyer touting “garbage bowls” and I thought How Stupid! I do most of my food prep next to the pull-out trash bin and just drop some things in the trash while I have a large 5 gallon bucket on the floor to drop all the “garbage” that I use later for composting. The bowls look pretty cheap to be selling for $20. Also why take up valuable space in the kitchen for an item that can be done with a cheapie plastic bucket for about $4 at the dollar store and you can store outside until you need it. What a waste of money and I think it’s pretty shameless to market something like this, trading on a name that is on tv. Some people must have more dollars than they have “cents” (sense)

  10. Leon on January 18, 2012 2:43 pm

    Patty, I’ve been cooking for the last 40 years at my house (still married after 43 years) and I think the “garbage bowl” is a rip off. I have a 5 gallon bucket (cost $4 at the dollar store) next to my trash compartment (it sldies under the counter). If I can use the “garbage” for compost, it goes into the bucket. If I can’t use it for compost, it goes in the trash bin. Just because you see something on tv, presented by some “celebrity, doesn’t mean it’s a great idea. To me, it’s wasting money and the goofy things take up space in the cabinets. However, I realize that common sense doesn’t always play out when it comes to fashion :-)

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