Came home last night from a long night catering for Avanti Cafe and was catching up on the Olympics when I saw a commercial for something that made me pretty pissed-off:
SC Johnson’s new “greenlist” certification.
Guess who is in charge of granting this label to SC Johnson products that, “will help consumers identify products that are environmentally responsible and deliver the performance excellence they trust and expect from SC Johnson.”
SC Johnson of course!
Part of this advertisement was also a visual of the SC Johnson products that they were associating with the “greenlist” label.
(basically they showed these products and others like Ple*ge, Ra*d, Glad* air fresheners…yes you name it name-brand products that we have been seeing for years)
This makes me sick. They haven’t even changed the labels of the products! How stupid do they think we are (i would assume pretty stupid to pull this off). From what i have found SCJ have devised this program back in 2001; funny that we never hear of it until the beginning of 2008.
As part of my on-going efforts to help with the marketing of the large corps that try to greenwash the public i have created a a new logo for them:
please BAN all SC Johnson products!
and please support the companies that have been creating non-toxic cleaning products as 100% of their business!
LA Time Home section (one of the top things i look forward to during the week besides Food section), had this awesome article about how to transform the basic IKEA varde wall shelf and give it some personality.
(the piece in question and one of the results)
I love me some IKEA. It is a great, low-cost alternative for eco-friendly living…now i am NOT SAYING THEY ARE THE BEST, but i do suggest them to help with expenses when people want to make changes because not all of us are Leonardo Dicaprio .
link to video
This awesome customer came in yesterday and gave me a coupon for Ecover cleaning products.
I know i sound lame, but i have never dealt with a coupon. does Ecover pay me back for the money I took off the product….how does this work??
anyways, here’s a link for the coupons and go for it. up to $1.75 off!!
because we have been making some big changes in our store, i decided (well more like had to) redecorate and design some of the displays in the store.
had these old wine cases in storage and with a little help from the drill and stud-finder, made a totally cute new product display, green goes well with natural wood colors!
(lovin’ the new Baby Section!)
took the old branches in the small space off and mounted them on the wall, took some old magazines and layered them to make large butterflies and attached them.
(this is a great party decoration idea that is easy for kids to do!)
the back space is almost finished with the major layout. i transfered some of the decorative items from the front and created a warmer area with lighting and Peace Lilies (they take out a TON of bad air!) and aloe.
i still have to figure out product and the work-station of the space…guess what i will be doing at 5am!
OMG big-time!!!
Just got the word that we are going to the first US convention for Slow Food-Slow Food Nation 2008!!!
In case you don’t know: Slow Food is a way of living and a world-wide organization committed to celebrating, preserving and education of food. Basically the opposite of Fast Food-something Good, Clean and Fair!
Already signed up for the Food Pavilion and lectures by awesome food types like, Alice Waters, Eric Schlosser and so many others that have contributed to the “eat fair-eat local-eat organic” movement…and all of them in one place with tasty olive oils, wines and the BEST in eating…..if you can go, PLEASE GO!
if not, i will be posting about the activities through this blog.
My boyfriend is a writer and one of his readers recently requested his help:
Her son had to raise a pig for a class project and had eventually grown attached to the pig and did not want to sent it to auction were it would have been sold and turned into a BLT 
The mother asked if my boyfriend could put a call for help in his popular column to see if someone would want to adopt the pig and save her from a horrible fate. He also promised that if no one responded that he would adopt her.
We are now the adoptive parents of Caboose a 200lb pig.
Unfortunately, the City of Irvine does not allow Caboose or any of her friends for that matter (boring!). But fortunately there are great organizations like Animal Acres in Los Angeles that do take farm animals in and give them a peaceful and just life. This will be Caboose’s new home on Monday.
Because i was too busy with the remodel and new section, i was not able to say my hello/goodbye to Caboose, but my boyfriend was nice enough to take a few photos.
I guess she rolls over when you scratch her belly and tried to eat his shoes 3 times.
working on the new wing of the store, and what has become a moving project has now turned into a complete metamorphosis of the entire work place…YIKES! i was only thinking of the big changes, but what about the small?
one thing that was a real treat: Path Design left their awesome remodeled restroom. now i could repaint and tear out the floor, add a new window or even gut the whole thing, but why?!? Rachel installed these GREAT cork tiles, which i have been wanting for the other restroom back when they were in Domino Mag. they are super affordable and if you are patient, you can install them yourself.
(moving in the displays)
The entire back space is white and grey, good for choosing colors, but low on personality. Rachel painted the bathroom, Aztec, from Green Planet Paint and it is the only “warm” wall in the entire store…gonna keep!
I decided to go through one of the best deals on the planet: IKEA “as-is” section for shelving or other tiddies. i found these simple and clean looking glass shelves for displaying nick-nacks. they were only$2.49!! so i bought 4 just in case.
the rest is just what i already had in my old restroom and the store: vintage mirror from a display, local artist painting, Family Van candle, and various glass objects that were in storage corners.
(awesome cork flooring & the light teal really highlights the walls huh!)
(this is how we are come Sat evening…and boy am i tired!)
