dear vitacost.com...

I purchase Burt's Bees products for many reasons, but chief among them is the fact that they package in glass or 80%+ post-consumer recylced plastics. I was extremely disheartened to see three of my Burt's Bees products packaged for shipping in an excessive amount of plastic bubble wrap, of course defeating my efforts to reduce my plastic use. Most disturbing is the fact that BOTH bottles of toner I purchased, though packaged separately, arrived with broken lids and had leaked inside the plastic bubble bags. That means this huge amount of plastic waste didn't even do the job you were intending it to do!

For a company who specializes in alternative health care and natural products, it would seem you would institute more sustainable practices in your shipping. I, as well as many others, I'm sure, would be willing to pay an additional charge to have my purchases shipped with natural or bio-degradable packing supplies. I hope this is something you will take under immediate consideration.

I contacted Customer Service already regarding the broken caps on my toner bottles, and the representative I spoke with indicated she would have two replacement bottles sent out in the morning. I'm sure they'll come swathed in plastic, but I hope the day will come soon when my natural products will arrive in natural packaging.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Christina Something Something

why i heart publix...

Is it wrong to love your grocery store?

I just ran up to to grab some lunch, and of course, forgot to take my reusable bags. I picked up a few more while I was there (I needed more bags anyway) and headed to check out.

The clerk rang up my bags first and handed them to the bagger. Take notes, Target Girl! Then, to my amazement, she handed me a small square window cling TO REMIND ME TO BRING MY BAGS INTO THE STORE WITH ME!

Oh, Publix. Get out of my head!

...green alert.

We have been running around a lot lately. A lot.

Unfortunately, that has meant a lot of meals at places that we really should not be eating. Today, however, we decided to stop sprinting about for a bit and actually sit down to eat. Not in a car, either.

It was during our loverly, leisurely lunch that I had an idea. Sitting in the lounge area of our local Chili's provided just the opportunity I've been hoping for. I recently started harassing my friends to gather wine and liquor bottles for me. I plan to use the bottles to edge a huge flower bed I'm working on in the backyard (to disguise the dog poo composter!).

The problem is, I'm very much an instant gratification kind of girl (I know, I know. I'm working on it! I promise.), and the idea of having to work on this project bit by bit is killing me. Do you see where I'm going with this? Maybe Chili's will let me take some of the bottles they otherwise send to the recycler!

There was just one problem with my perfect plan: Chili's doesn't recycle their glass. I found out after talking to the manager on site that although they collect the glass bottles seperately, they're thrown into the dumpster with all of the restaurant's other trash.

The good news in this is that even though he's "not supposed to" save bottles for me, he will. He just asked me if I could come up on both Saturday and Sunday mornings to collect the weekend party crowd's castoffs, which of course I am more than willing to do.

What's bunching my panties right now though is the thought that this is just one little restaurant, in a huge chain of restaurants, in a massive industry of waste. The idea that these companies are not recycling on even a minimal level is jaw-droppingly shocking to me.

I plan to do something about this. As soon as my garden bed is complete.