Are you fricking kidding me? How lazy can we be! Is it that hard to use a cotton towel and throw it in the laundry when dirty? "A clean fresh towel every time" is what they claim on Kleenex website. Yes you can achieve this too if you JUST WASH THE TOWEL! That aside how about the tree's being harvested for your products? Where does your wood pulp come from? You will be unhappy to know that it comes from some U.S places but also Australia, Canada and Brazil. How about just U.S. and save yourself some money and lighten your carbon footprint? Oh and get this, "We will not knowingly use wood fiber from illegally harvested timber or forest areas requiring protection, such as primary tropical rainforests and any areas protected by government authorities." So does this mean your not checking all your sources? If you would like to read more about their fiber procurement read here. I just have one thing to say about this product, "Seriously, are we that lazy that we forget about the cost the earth will take for using these products?" WTH!
2. Coupons=free isn't always good. I know I will be getting a ton of hate mail but I really don't care at this point. Coupons can be a good thing if you use them right. Now days you can find coupons for organic and fair trade products pretty easy. The green movement has got all these companies attention and now greenies like myself can start saving money too. I am all about saving money but more importantly my families health and our carbon foot print is most important to us. I shop from about 4 stores all of which are within 5 miles from me. Winco I go to once a month and its the farthest from us. The other 3 are within walking distance (1-2 miles). I do not get the paper or buy coupons from anyone. The only time I get coupons is when they are sent to me by the company (newsletters), they come in the FoodDay paper which comes once a week, or they come with freebies that I rarely sign up for. Since I do not buy prepackaged anything, single use anything, or preservative filled food there is no need for me to pay to get coupons.
Now for the hate mail part. I think the coupons are being abused. Yes I said it! Until recently only unhealthy, prepackaged, sugar filled, preservative filled and just plain horrible food companies were giving out coupons. Stores have different coupon policies so eventually you would be driving to several stores just to get things for cheap or free. Is it worth is? To me no its not. I waste my whole day going shopping just to save money when i'm actually spending that saved money on gas. You also have to remember the hassle it takes with using coupons. There are some good stores who enjoy coupons but not many. Most the time the register person gets annoyed, the cash register doesn't ring up your order right, you have to be watching closely, tell them when it didn't ring up right, they get annoyed, they call a manager, etc. You get my drift. Companies give out coupons for a reason. They want you to buy their product. With the green movement here and our eyes open wide to their practices, there are even better coupons coming out of the woods. The companies are afraid were not gonna buy their product so they throw coupons our way like a fishing line with a coupon hook. And you fall for it each time!
So is it really worth it? To me personally, no. I use coupons for companies who have green practices. Usually just for Seventh Generation products or Wholesome Sweeteners products. Thats it. If I request a freebie it has to be something I know I will use. I don't sign up for every single freebie that comes my way. I enjoy my no clutter closet. I get my big shopping done once a month (we get paid once a month). Then I only go to the store if I need something which is usually about once a week to get fresh organic milk from Whole Foods. If im in the area and a store has produce for cheap, I will stop by. Saves me time, gas and the planet thanks me!
3. Litter bugs This one really gets me. We went on a family hike on Saturday this last weekend. It was such a beautiful day and really was the perfect temperature for the hike. My husband said hold on and lightly walked right off the trail next to a tiny stream.We couldn't believe what we saw. Garbage in the tiny stream up and in the mountain. He wanted to set an example for our kids. Don't just say it but take action and do it. You would think that people would enjoy the beauty and want to keep it beautiful by not littering. We humans are the laziest selfish people at times. I had to take a picture because I was so proud of my husband who is slowly turning extreme green. Not literally but you know what I mean. We packed a zero waste lunch with us and enjoyed our lunch in the natural beauty of this place. There was 2 huge waterfalls and several small streams that were a beautiful song in the back ground. Birds sang thank you songs in the tree's while we ate. Well I imagine they did. They see enough litter bugs that they are thankful when they find someone who is compassionate.
So what do you think? What are your thoughts on coupons? What do you do about litter? How do you deal with it? Speak up and enjoy the hate mail with me!
5 comments:
I live in the UK and coupons are not as widespread here and companies don't often take any old coupon. The ones that are available are usually, like you say, for over processed, over packaged, rubbish food products that I don't want to buy anyway. Last week I actually used a coupon for the first time in ages; I asked for a free sample of Twinings fruit/herb teas, which came with a 20p off coupon. We needed lemon and ginger tea (good for sore throats) and they were about £1 a box. But the supermarket had a 2 for £1.50 deal, so that made it 75p per box. Then we get 10% off staff discount; what's that? 67.5p per box. And then I threw the box out of the car window..... no I didn't, I will recycle it! I loathe, detest and despise litter. We have some shops a couple of hundred yards away and loads of litter ends up in our garden, and hardly any in our neighbours' because of the wind patterns. We pick it up regularly, including any in our road. Oh, and paper hand towels? Eh? They haven't reached the UK yet, except in public buildings, but I guarantee they'll never be in this house!
That commercial makes me so angry I change the channel.
Attila- I would pick the trash up and take it to the shop and tell them to keep their trash out of your garden. that would frustrate me! This whole coupon thing had gotten out of hand here in the US. I really wanted to go off the handle with that issue but it would be a really LONG post. lol.
Anonymous-Yes I feel the same way. I find myself yelling at the tv and looking like a nut job. Think about it, its really ballsy of them to come out with that product in Earth Month. I can't wait to see those things in clearance bins because they wont sell. I think this is a product fail.
I am RIGHT THERE with you on the disposable hand towels. Grrr! If fact, you inspired me to post a rant about it on my Facebook page.
And it always AMAZES me when my family comes across litter on a hiking trail. It seems like folks that take the time to head out into the wilderness would know enough and respect nature enough to not toss trash on the ground. Who are these people?
Now I'm all riled up (which is unlike me)! :) Thanks for sharing your eco-concerns...nice to vent once in a while.
-Monica Erskine
Endangered Species Chocolate
Monica Eve-Yeah I was pretty riled up when I wrote that post. I mean really, how lazy can humans be?
As for the litter bugs-I would very much like to find these people and slap them on the hand just like my mother would of done to me if I littered. I find this very disrespectful. What happened to the old motto "Leave with what you came in with"?
Urrr....see im getting all riled up again! lol
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