>When green products have wasteful packaging

>Eco gifts. Love ’em or hate ’em (and how could anyone truly hate a gift that helps keep our planet healthy?), they’re here to stay. Last year I gave reusable shopping bags, some simple, some fancy. This year, I’m still looking for the perfect inexpensive eco-gift for my extended family and friends.

Mother Nature Network has an unusual set of gift suggestions in their Quirky Gift Guide. I seriously like these bootie slippers, but they’re a little pricey for my gift budget. My favorite, however, is this wallet. If Amigo needed a new wallet, this cute bifold made from ties and suits would be perfect.

I’ve been thinking of giving anti-static dryer balls as a stocking stuffer. They’re inexpensive, long-lasting, useful, creative – all in all, a good gift for the family members who don’t need Random Stuff in their Stockings. But wait: look at this wasteful packaging! Much bigger than the product itself, plastic galore, impossible to open without scissors, yada yada yada. In other words, how could such a good product come in such a terrible package?!

I contemplated returning it. Really. In the balance, is it worthwhile? Thinking long term, these simple anti-static balls will keep a year’s worth of fabric softener chemicals out of the water supply, save $$ by removing the product from grocery lists, and help take good care of clothing in the process. That’s my dilemma: does the good outweigh the bad?

Readers, what do you think? How do you balance the eco-good with the eco-bad? The green with the greenwashing? The green and frugal product in the plastic package?

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Teacher discount season – or not?

I noticed a Walgreens store across town with a sign advertising teacher discounts on Wednesdays in August. I had a shopping list ready, so I decided to try out the store closest to my home, conveniently located on my route to and from school. First, I looked at their sign to see if they were advertising the discount deal.

Hmmm. Maybe not. Is this the advertising equivalent of the blank stare? So I waited a moment, and the sign changed – to this.


I took a chance, went in anyway, and filled my cart. Discount or not, there were many good advertised deals on my list. With a cart full of contact solutions, shampoos, hearing aid batteries, and buy-one get-one vitamins, I proceeded to the checkout with my teacher ID in hand and a question on the tip of my tongue: “I saw the sign on another store in town. Are you also offering the teacher discount?”
Remember the blank stare in the first picture? It was mirrored on her face. “Uh– I don’t know. I’ll call the manager.” She did, the manager said yes, so the clerk sent me to the correct register for specials like this and paged the other clerk, who joined the Blank Face Brigade as she started up her register. “Uh – I don’t know. I’ll call the manager.” This call included, “How do I ring this up?”
In the end, I did get the discount. Lack of knowledge aside, the store clerks were helpful and willing to ask, and the manager was willing to guide them through the process.
I didn’t mention the signs. I thought they had enough on their minds.
Update: It looks like Walgreens may be offering a similar deal to teachers during September. Watch for it in your locals!

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>Back to school – a teacher prepares

>Teaching is challenging, no doubt about it. Getting ready for a new school year is a process not just for children! I was skimming the usual “get your kids ready for school” articles in the local paper and I had to acknowledge that my own Back to School Routine isn’t all that different from theirs.
Getting my room ready is one big item with its own to-do list. More important than the room, however, is my motivation. Moving from summer to fall means adjusting from being able to budget and apply my time according to my own devices to living by a set of bells. It’s a big change best made gradually.
One Step: start getting up on time. I’ve kept myself to a 7:00 wake-up time for much of the summer, but it’s been easier and easier to sleep in past 8 lately. Consider that I wake up at 5:30 AM on a regular school day from September through June, and I have a lot of adjusting to do with my body clock.
Another Step: school supply shopping. My students represent all socio-economic levels. More than half qualify for free or reduced lunch, meaning they’re either below, at, or close to the poverty line for their family size. Job losses and economic struggles hit these families harder than most. With that in mind, I used a small part of my class budget to stock up on crayons, color pencils, and more while the supplies are on sale.
Yet another step: make sure the family has enough clothing to skip weekend laundry if needed. Everyone has enough underwear and socks; as long as they have drawers in their drawers, they can wear their pants a second and third day if necessary.
One more step: review the new math curriculum. I picked up all my manuals and support materials. I signed up for a day-long training session later this week. That means I’ll have to make myself wake up and be alert and concentrate all day: see Step One.
One last step to get through these final preparation weeks: Grind the coffee!

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>Shopping ’till your husband drops

>Shoe shopping. I enjoy it, La Petite loves it. Husband tolerates it; Amigo hates it. I handled shoe shopping with both boys recently. With Amigo it was enter the store, go directly to the dept., try on two pair, choose the best, checkout, leave. Immediately. Grumpy teenager and tolerant- going-on-grumpy mom survived again.

Husband was similar. He tried on a few pair, chose the pair that worked and fit, then got ready to check out. I managed to walk him through another department so I could get some cloth napkins on sale, and then we checked out. We had success on both counts: picture below.


Imagine my surprise when we were in a Nordstrom Rack store looking for a wallet and he voluntarily walked into the shoe department and picked up a colorful pair of Converse All Star sneakers! La Petite is a connoisseur of Chuck Taylor (“chucks” in her words), and he thought it might be fun to wear “cool” shoes.

Husband? Trying on shoes? Voluntarily? By choice? I had to sit down. Then I pulled out the camera to document the occasion. Maybe I should stop calling him Husband and rename him – Chuck! What do you think, dear?


He bought them. Yes, she was surprised. She was a little impressed, too. She should be: at 22, she’s influenced her father’s wardrobe! Now if I can keep her from nominating me for What Not to Wear….

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>Applying the lessons of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

>I read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle recently. It is an amazing book, fitting my sensibilities and interests well. Kingsolver and her family dedicated a full year to feeding their family on local foods. The backstories describing her reasoning and the supplemental stories describing her disasters and successes make this a great story. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an easy and fascinating read.

Implementing her advice is more challenging. Kingsolver addresses this, facing the fact that not everyone has a large garden space like hers or the opportunity to raise chickens, turkeys, or other meat animals. She spends a significant amount of space on suggestions for folks like me, people who would like to move toward a more locavore philosophy but face stumbling blocks on the way.

My garden is coming into its season now. I’ve been gathering spinach and lettuce already, and I found the first handful of beans when we came home from vacation. Pea pods look good, too. This is the first year I’ve successfully grown peas, so I’ll have to look them over carefully to make sure I only pick those that are truly ripe! There are at least three zucchini appearing from the blossoms, and I see flowers on the tomato plants at last.

Here in the Northern zones, we don’t get as much food for as long as Kingsolver does on her small Virginia farm. I can use what I have, though, and pick up more local goodies at the farmers’ market every Saturday until October. For now, at least, I’ll put delicious and local foods on the table. Next year’s goal: learn to can. Maybe. We’ll see.

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>Father’s Day is next week: Are you ready?

>I’m sort of ready. Husband dropped a few hints, I talked to Amigo and La Petite, and we ordered something fun.

MomCentral knows that Moms often pick up the task of gift shopping, no matter what the holiday. I’m still looking over their connections (a.k.a. Mom Central Father’s Day Gift Guide) for ideas, just in case my order doesn’t arrive in time.

They offer suggestions and links for gifts in various price ranges. I’m a bargain shopper, but I do check the higher priced options for good quality purchases. Frugal doesn’t have to mean cheap.

Husband is a beer man: maybe one of these gift baskets would be good for him. Steak brands? Well, maybe.
This parking aid would be better for my minivan than his car; ever since we lost the tennis ball that hung from the garage ceiling, I’ve been estimating exactly where to stop. Chocolate? Again, that’s more for me.
For the outdoorsman dads, this tent (by Jeep!) looks fun. But if dad’s outdoor fun is limited to the backyard and the grill, this chair is still cool.

None of these top the actual gift we have for the Dad in our house. I still plan to stop by the site for their daily giveaways, though. My brother and Husband’s brother both have birthdays coming up, and there’s always the hidden Christmas gift closet.

MomCentral does not pay an affiliate fee or a bonus for posts like this one. I like MomCentral, and I get a great deal of pleasure from doing book reviews for their site. Don’t worry, faithful readers, this is not a paid post. Not at all.

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>Does Sears know it’s Earth Week?

>

Green, frugal, or both, I decided to use a mall gift card on Sunday. The card was a student gift that was still burning a hole in my purse. The mall’s parent company had been in the headlines because they just declared bankruptcy, so I decided I’d better use the card ASAP, PDQ, before it lost its value.
I started at Sears. They had pruning clippers on sale. Craftsman (warranty), on sale (frugal), sharpen-able (is that a word?): I bought one. While the clerk was running my gift card through the register, I pulled out my chico bag and said, “I don’t need a bag. I have my own.” The clerk replied, “Oh, you can’t use that here.”
WHAT??!!? I can’t use my own shopping bag? You’re forcing me to take your worthless piece of plastic? He insisted, saying it was because I’d be stopped by security if I carried merchandise in any bag but one clearly labeled Sears. I fumed and grumbled my way through the rest of the store, avoiding the clearance racks and other deals for fear of collecting any more wasteful packaging.

At my next stop, Target was actually giving away reusable cloth shopping bags to the first several hundred customers. I sighed with relief and headed to Bath & Body Works for foam soap. They let me use the Target bag and commented on how much they liked it. My last stop, Williams-Sonoma, didn’t have the cloth napkins at a price I liked, but they had some sale merchandise from Easter (okay, chocolate) that cost just enough to use up the gift card. They, too, were happy to allow me to use my own shopping bag.

Sears? I’ve heard rumors that they’re not weathering the economic downturn very well. The small plastic bag they forced on me didn’t cost the store much, but if they lose many eco-conscious shoppers like me, that’ll hurt.

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>waiting, waiting, waiting

>We looked at cell phones for Amigo at the AT&T store. The new Jitterbug would be suitable, but expensive. we found a couple that would work and then talked to the folks at the store about adding him to our family plan. Then husband went on to other topics, such as the new television and phone (landline) services. I didn’t need to hear this and I was tired of waiting, so I went next door in the mall to (fanfare) Famous Footwear!! I tried on five pair, bought two, and then headed back to the store where Husband was still looking at the details of the new television service. He looked at my bag and realized he was taking too long. Heck, the shoes were on clearance!

The next day we found ourselves heading along the highway to Milwaukee for Amigo’s appointment with the tummy doctor (the GI specialist). Two hours on the road and I admit it, I was dozing in the passenger seat. Traffic was smooth, so we actually arrived early.

The waiting room would rate low on my quality scale. No toys, a few children’s books, a TV set to public television (with an elderly exercise program on when we came in), aquarium in one corner with a few fish. No adult reading material whatsoever: no books, no magazines, not even a stack of health-related handouts. Cell phones are a no-no in this major medical building, so texting La Petite was out.

We coped. Amigo put on his headphones and listened to radio. I sent the restless Husband in search of a newspaper. While he was gone, I made lists.

To-do List #1: must-do priorities for moving into new classroom
To-do List #2: phone calls and appts. to make
To-do List #3: Power Point plan for Open House
To-Do List #4: Power Point plan for students, first day of school

At about that point, Husband handed over a section of the newspaper, and the paper kept us occupied until Amigo’s appointment.

Next time I’ll bring a book. Actually, the next appointment is in October, so I’ll probably have stacks of papers to correct and lessons to plan. Next time, I’ll bring my schoolbag.

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>Bargains! Bargains galore!

>Now that I’ve got your attention — Best Bargain Find Ever? Okay, PBN, I’m a bargain shopper, a coupon clipper, and a comparison shopper, too. Singling out one bargain as the Best Ever is nearly impossible. Here are a few examples:

*the inexpensive “calendar mug” form the corner gas station: free coffee on the dates in red
*Amigo’s winter coat from the consignment store: a brand name jacket for $20
*swag! Husband picked up a mini jump drive that is the perfect size for my school files.
*books for my classroom from Savers’ thrift store: great titles, great price, and I had a newspaper coupon for $5 any purchase greater than $5. Fabulous!
*my new purse from the outlet mall, brand name, half price, will last forever!
*messenger bag for school – already marked down, then entire luggage dept. on 50% the day I bought it
*anything purchased at Steve and Barry’s for $8.98!

Planning ahead and being aware is the first step in finding great bargains. Last December I made my list, checked it twice, grabbed my Very Important Customer discount card, and headed out to Kohl’s to shop. I knew what I was looking for, so I didn’t overspend. It was a big sale day with early bird specials, so I shopped in the morning. After these specials, I used my Kohl’s charge and the additional 15% discount coupon. End result: they practically paid me to shop. I watched the numbers on the register go down, down, down, until I couldn’t believe how little I paid for the cart full of presents!

Bargain shopping? I’m there, whether it’s online or brick and mortar.

Parent Bloggers Network is doing their part to help readers watch their wallets during this economic downturn by co-sponsoring this blog blast with Couponers.com.

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>Footwear, footwear

>Shoes!! Scribbit’s latest Write-Away contest, the one for May, has a great topic: Shoes. Being one of the female persuasion who has always enjoyed the quest for footwear, I knew I’d have a few posts in my archives on the topic. The question will be: which one is the most appropriate for the contest?

Green Bay Packer fans must have the right shoes.

We called it Mort, short for Morton’s Neuroma. It’s healed nicely, thank you, but it did mean limiting my shoe selection.

The perfect location for some Mother-daughter bonding.

Maintaining the rainbow collection

Procuring the rainbow collection — oops, I entered that one in Scribbit’s contest last August. The topic then was “Collections.”

Hmm. Shoes. I can think of something, I’m sure. I am Mama; hear me roar!

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