I also don't like tossing out beans, or any food for that matter, and will try to use it all up if I can. I'm not sure why it never occurred to me before to blend beans together to make use out of them and try for a new taste.
Regarding companies penchant for blending, could it possibly be that the blends they create are based on their taste preferences and maybe not always just throwing some percentage of beans together to see what happens?
Sure.
But - having tried a few blends (mainly because they had the magic word 'Ethiopian' somewhere in the mix), I have come to the conclusion that they are also trying things out - yes, sometimes for taste, but, are not always getting them right with regard to 'balance'.
Now, that is just a personal opinion, and, as with craft brewers, I love the idea that small roasting companies are trying this sort of stuff out; it is just that it doesn't always work, but that is no reason not to continue with the taste - and blending - experiments.
Candidly, this would never have occurred to me had I not started experimenting with my own stuff - initially, to finish stuff off - more recently, to try things out - and - once or twice, come up with something that was really rather good: To my tastes, the 'really rather good' tended to work out as two thirds Ethiopian to one third The Other (Brazilian, Kenyan, or perhaps even some blend), or even, three quarters Ethiopian to one quarter Whatever The Other Is.
Now, this (that is, my percentages) could also come down to the fact that Ethiopian coffee tends to be rather light, and fairly lightly roasted: It might need such (large) blended percentages when blended (successfully) with other coffees.
However, I have learned that the classic 50/50 blend doesn't work with Ethiopian, (and many 'good' roasters sell that exact mix), as whatever the other blend is tends to overpower the Ethiopian. Even blends where the 50% Ethiopian was comprised of two different types of Ethiopian beans, - to one - but still a 50% one - of Something Else - merely served to tone down the Something Else a little, without allowing the clean clarity of the Ethiopian to shine through in any meaningful way.
Other coffees - or beans - may require different percentages of blends in order to ensure that the flavours, and strengths of each of the respective coffees can come through clearly and distinctly.
