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"Bal tashchis" is a prohibition on destroying something for which there is potential use. Destroying something that has no use is not in violation of that prohibition. Because there is no use for separated chala (because, as you note, there's no one around these days who can eat it), one may destroy it. Moreover, one can separate the chala even though it ...

In Shabbos 129a and 140b, the Gemara points out that "bal tashchis" of one's own body outweighs other kinds. So for your first question, if indeed letting the water run gives you purer water (which is better for you), then indeed this should apply. If it's just to get colder water (which presumably does the same thing for your body as if it were lukewarm), I ...

Destruction of any object or food that is still usable falls under the catagory of Lo Sashchis (Rambam Melachim 6:10) I sometimes leave the bread out until it stales and is no longer edible to the norm of society. Alternatively, I throw it in the garbage inside a bag so that the bread is preserved in its state.

Although I am not at all familiar with the video or the controversy,I would suspect that many, or most, people were not upset because it constituted a technical violation of bal tashchis but because they felt it violated the principle of the matter. According to my understanding pretty much any reason to destroy something will override the prohibition of ...

I haven't seen the video, but I would imagine that people were upset because there wasn't an absolute need to use actual food for the props - they could have had plastic 'eggs' filled with some yellow liquid, and a cup of water darkened to look like coffee (adding mud might be one way to get a good color for a cup of coffee). In this sense, although the eggs ...