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Halachot of Daily Living
Q: I heard that it is not Bal Tashchit to throw things away if it is not worth my time to reuse them. Bal Tashchit of time outweighs Bal Tashchit of wasting items. For example, at the end of a meal, may a caterer throw everything away, or must he salvage those items that can be saved (e.g. mustard, pickles) which could be very time-consuming?
A: A similar question is discussed in Sefer Hitorerut Teshuva. He writes that it is forbidden to waste food even if it will require time and effort to salvage it. He reasons that since Bal Tashchit is a prohibition, salvaging the food should not be viewed as a waste of time. By salvaging food from being thrown out, one is serving Hashem and this cannot be considered a waste of time. However, Rav Zilberstein (Tzohar 1: pg. 52) favors the position of the Haye Adam who rules that avoiding Bal Tashchit of time takes precedent to avoiding Bal Tashchit of objects, because time is more valuable. The Haye Adam (11:32) writes that if one wishes to upgrade the Tzitzit strings on their Tallit, and they find it too time consuming to unravel the old strings, they may cut them off, even though this will make the strings unusable. The Haye Adam explains that since Bal Tashchit on items other than fruit trees is only a Rabbinic prohibition, it is permitted if the alternative would be an excessive waste of time.