My local HD gets their plant deliveries on Tuesdays and I saw this shopping cart filled to the brim with broken or imperfect babies, I asked the woman if I could buy any at a discount and she said no, she has to throw them away. This shit infuriates me. I wanted to share my heartbreak and disgust with y'all.
by Spare_Perspective_46
46 Comments
But is it allowed to pick them up while they dispose?
Dig them out of the trash can
I hate HD for this very reason
😭😭😭
I’d be dumpster diving tonight!
I would honestly love to dumpster dive for them, but I think that such a thing would solidify my need for plant addiction counseling, lol. It was disgusting to look at. These big box stores don’t give a shit, and even the woman who’s job it is to tend to them just tossed them like you’d toss your finished fast food bag. Not a great look.
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I totally understand. Saw the same at my HD and while I was perusing all the plants in the cart an employee came to me and said, YOU PAY FULL PRICE! She was very rude and made me recoil immediately.
They don’t own the plant–they provide “care” and bench space, and the grower, gets paid only when they sell. Selling at a discount would force HD to pay them full price per the contracts. Same thing with the veggie and herb starts
What the actual fuck??? I buy plants solely to rescue them sometimes. They could still make $ too. I don’t get it.
You better believe I’d be loitering at that dumpster to fish them out the second they hit the bin.
My local big box store had some really nice oncidium intergenetic varieties. They waterboarded epiphytic! orchids for close to two months until they all slowly died but still wouldn’t discount any.
I saw them when roots were starting to rot already but I refused to pay full inflated price and give them profit for a plant that had months of reconvalescence needed and very big chance of dying anyway. Still it was hearbreaking
I’m sorry, but I have to speak up. It’s not the stores policy. This is the policy of the vendor. And SOME of the plant vendors throw away the unsold plants instead of marking them down.
try to catch the nursery workers ! they wear different colors and are usually there in the mornings. like 8-2 usually. at least that’s how mine was. home depot can’t discount the plants the nursery workers can. if you’re on the east coast the nursery workers will probably be wearing purple, i used to work for em
Reminds me of when I worked for Tim Hortons and was forced to throw away food every single night at 1pm. Clear the bagels, muffins, cookies, timbits, and doughnuts into the trash. They wouldn’t allow for anything but. It was devastating for someone who’s experienced food insecurities.
That’s why I always say EVEN IF ITS THE CHEAPEST WHITE KNIGHT EVER pleaaassse stop buying plants from large stores (Walmart target home depot, etc). Encouraging this is just awful to me, its such a waste of plastic, and a waste of the beautiful life the plant could’ve had.
Also another fact..hallmark cards,wrapping paper ect ..thwy throw thwm in thw dumpster but have to dump water on thwm before they toss..
Come to Lowe’s instead, at least we put our plants on clearance
I think this needs to be called out for how wasteful this generally is. Like sell it at a discount instead of throwing it all away creating a lot more waste – on many levels, including restocking on plants constantly
My husband got arrested when he was 16 for dumpster diving plants at home depot. Yes it’s on his record
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 or at least line.
It was also my job to over water the plant per the company, so y’all can take it up with big bosses or move on.
I’ve had people cuss me out for reasons that I can not control. Grab a cutting and move on, honestly. Or just don’t shop at big box stores and shop local for house plants I’ve told people to go to local stores if they don’t like my selection.
The exact same at my HD. I asked if I could take them at a discount and they said no, we have to toss them. I go swing by tonight after closing……
Just an fyi. Lowe’s purchases their plants from the vendor and has their own crew water and care for them therefore they can sell them at a discounted price because THEY OWN THEM. Home Depot allows a vendor to sell plants in their store and makes a commission off of them. These vendors send their crew to the store to care for the plants and do not sell them at a discounted rate. Incase you ever wondered why.
Edit: I scrolled further and saw someone else explained it to my fellow plant lovers 😁
I’d have gotten a manager and gone full on nutter.
Home depot gets a credit from its supplier for “broken” plants. They only want perfect plants for sale. Lowes Home Improvement doesnt get the credit so they discount them to recoup costs.
It upsets me bc most just need water, a repot, or new soil. Easily fixed and then could be sold.
You. Just ruined my peace tonight. If I was shopper..why do you ask? Did the plants give clerk permission to be tossed
It’s not the store, it’s the grower.
Sign should say “caution, plants falling in shopping carts”
No offense, but not everyone wants a “Charlie Brown” plant that needs to be rehabilitated. I know I don’t. Even for free. I guess I’m past that stage – I can save that plant.
This country has an epidemic of waste
That is ridiculous. What a waste. Wow.
this is why (+ political reasons) i won’t buy from Home Depot
Ask if you can get them for a discount now you have a bunch of new cheap plant babies💝
Lowe’s has plants on clearance, I love the challenge of it.
I bought like 30 of those colorful cactus and they ALL died
You can check your local dumpster diving laws. In the US its allowed since anything in trash or dumpster is considered abandoned property, but there may be some restrictive laws locally to keep in mind. As long as the dumpster is easily accessible and there’s no signs, have at them! (Probably)
God I wish I could dumpster dive my Home Depot but living in AZ, as soon as they get into the trash outside they’re toast 🙁
STEAL! Support Plant CRIME!
That’s strange,all the Hone Depots I’ve visited in Ontario sell those plants at a discount or will give you a big discount if you ask at the till. Got a really nice hoya plant for only $1 because a couple of the vines had died, but there were still 3 healthy ones.
Welp. I hate them.
What I have found out is that I do not want to work retail ever *Other types of work for the last twenty plus years overall* because I can’t stand all this waste. Every store seems to go out of their way to destroy things vs giving them away or even sell them at a discount.
When it comes to taxes there should be no incentive or write off to just throw stuff away vs giving it away.
We all share that pain. It’s just so sad.
I freaking saw a plant there for 96 dollars like wtf
Plants arrive faster than they can sell sometimes, so old needs to be removed… vendors have to mark in the company system that the product is removed/dumped so it never belonged to Home Depot and they cannot discount a product they do not own. If ugly product is left on the table, general customers will assume the entire table is sick and dying and not purchase, so it needs to be removed. Sometimes because it’s massive pest problems. I’ve had to toss gorgeous bird of paradise and FLF that were COVERED in mealy bugs. You want to take an infestation home?? They can’t be treated because that is a liability to people with allergies and whatnot and the pesticide would be at the stores expense. And some companies want their stores to be clean and presentable without a parking lot of literal discounted trash carts. But fear not… There will be another round of tissue culture arriving shortly.
Plant abuse!!
My local Home Depot does this and I’ve taken cuttings of the trashed plants to propagate and give them new life.
Makes me so sad that these plants go to waste because of imperfections.
Dumpster diving to save the plants