Additionally, I ruminate about the stupidity of all of it.  All packaging should be biodegrade or be reusable.  We subsidize the corn industry to the point of having a surplus that we turn into syrup and jam into all sorts of food products unnecessarily.  Why couldn’t we turn that into packaging that composts instead?

Instead we have this:

We need more plastic to send our plastic to get turned into other plastic

We try our best to remember to bring our reusable shopping bags when we go to stores.  We still end up with piles of these petrol byproduct bags, but that’s good?  Shamefully, yes.  Because the BLUE ones and the CLEAR ones can be used to send other plastic products to the city.  Apparently, the garbage men aren’t bright enough to tell when a bag has beer bottles and yogurt containers and not other waste by the sound of it.

Sometimes, though, we don’t have enough blue or clear ones.  So that means, we have to purchase another petrol byproduct in order to send our petrol byproducts to get turned into other petrol byproducts (in the photo you will see in the clear bag on the left all the other bags that cannot get used for recycling getting prepped for their return to the product cycle).

Oxymoronic or just moronic?

Is this as good as we can do?

I know what the right choice is for Hazel, but I still feel like a sucker when making that choice.

We are all used to product volumes shrinking instead of the supplier raising the price or raising prices and decreasing volumes. We just shake our heads and dig deeper into the lint. We are used to getting ripped off by normal companies but I dislike it even more when it is coming from a company that supposedly has an interest in the betterment of humanity/earth/food supply. I call BS.

If organic growers and suppliers ever want to take over the marketplace they are going to have to provide a more viable reasons to do so:

• prices more competitive to non-organic
• matching volumes of comparable, non-organic products

Until then, prepare to continue to be marginalized and fringe, “Granola” Suits and Marketing Drones.   Hasn’t it been proven that organic doesn’t cost more for the farmer and that is one of the reasons it makes more sense for farmers to switch?  Why is it costing more at the market?

Gaiam’s tagline is “a lifestyle company” and their main product categories are Eco Home, Yoga, Fitness, Apparel, Wellness.  They promote fair trade and change.  That is well and good except that when you email them to stop receiving their catalogs (we have never even purchased anything from them) this is the response you get:

“Hello,

Unfortunately, we do not have her (sic – meaning Chris, me) in our system. You are receiving our catalogs through a Third Party. Here are some websites that you can go to, to remove your name from such lists.

Abacus: http://www.abacusoptout.com/

NextAction: http://www.nextaction.net/Privacy/default.aspx

Prefer: http://www.prefer.com/legal.asp

Wiland: http://www.wilanddirect.com/OptOutPolicy.htm

Z-24 (Experian): (402)458-5247; Please specify you wish to be removed from mailing lists.

I-Behavior: No direct means to customer, but if the customer would like to be removed from all mailings have them visit:

Remove from all Catalogs: https://www.dmachoice.org/MPS

Remove from select Catalogs: www.catalogchoice.com

Thank you and have a great day!

Aspen Meade
Gaiam.com
Customer Relations
“Simple Choices Make A Difference”

So by pumping their catalogs through a Third Party they feel they are no longer culpable for the wasted paper and printing that shows up on America’s doorsteps.  Very clever.  So now, in order to stop receiving their catalog, I now have to jump through half a dozen steps.

WHAT SCUMBAGS!!!

Please boycot Gaiam and if they are sending you a catalog, ask to opt out by emailing them at this address:

customerservice@gaiam.com

Respond to their Caesar-like hand washing email and tell them that you are boycotting and why.  Feel free to direct them to this topic on my blog.