Elisa's Green Scene

The Little Things

Yesterday I picked up a few things at Trader Joe’s. San Jose and Campbell now no longer provide shopping bags; you’re supposed to provide your own. I have a trunk full of the things, but occasionally forget. And then you pay $.05 or $.99 whatever to get a bag. No biggie. To me.

The woman being checked out right in front of me had just a few things, but no bag, and I heard her say “I guess I’ll need to buy a bag”. Something in her voice sounded ashamed. Or upset. Or otherwise ready to be hard on herself. I had, quite uncharacteristically, several bags with me for my few items, so I said, “Oh, hey, I have extra, you can have one of my bags.”

She was so surprised. And grateful. To the point of my embarrasment. And then she said, “I think that’s the nicest thing that’s happened to me all week”. And she got teary-eyed. (I thought to myself that she must have had a pretty bad week, if this little gesture was the nicest thing to happen all week.)

The bag I shared with her was from Love With Food, a great food commerce start-up, with a social good angle similar to Tom’s Shoes, founded and run by a local Silicon Valley woman entrepreneur, Aihui Ong. I took the opportunity to point out the name on the bag, and describe what the company does and stands for, and both the checker and the lady said they’d check it out. And commented on the name, Love with Food, being pretty apropos for the moment!

As I left I thought about how the little things, the things that cost you nothing, the noticing, the offering, the chiming in, can sometimes have an impact you would never imagine. I have no idea why this gesture meant so much to this nice lady, but I can only be glad that it did, and that I had the presence of mind, distracted as I usually am, to do a little thing.

Have you done any little things lately that had ripples beyond your effort and imagination?

Tim Cook takes it to the mat at the Apple shareholder meeting

I often say that one of the big problems we have in this country is that most public companies are legally required to prioritize shareholder value over all other things. It's called their fiduciary duty. It can lead to short-term thinking, and actions that build profit but tear down other things...like communities, the environment and so on.

But companies do make choices all the time that sacrifice Return on Investment (ROI), whether it's in order to recruit better employees or build better community relations or acquire a sheen or halo for their brand.

Apple (disclosure, my S.O. works there) makes such choices, including making their operations and facilities ever more environmentally friendly. Not all their shareholders like it. Especially not their shareholders from a conservative think tank.

And Apple doesn't care. This story about Tim Cook's response to one such shareholder complaint just made my day. Here's an excerpt:

 

What ensued was the only time I can recall seeing Tim Cook angry, and he categorically rejected the worldview behind the NCPPR's advocacy. He said that there are many things Apple does because they are right and just, and that a return on investment (ROI) was not the primary consideration on such issues.

"When we work on making our devices accessible by the blind," he said, "I don't consider the bloody ROI." He said that the same thing about environmental issues, worker safety, and other areas where Apple is a leader.

…

He didn't stop there, however, as he looked directly at the NCPPR representative and said, "If you want me to do things only for ROI reasons, you should get out of this stock."

Sweet.

With holidays approaching, natural stomach-ache remedies seem timely

From Treehugger.com: Five Natural Fixes for a Stomach-Ache

I think I've probably tried the peppermint or chamomile tea approach before without noticing tremendous results, but the use of cayenne, ginger and fennel is new on me, and may take a leap of faith to try, since I'm no ginger or fennel fan.

[Oh, spoiler alert: Those are the five natural fixes I listed right there. But please do still click through for more detail.]

Have you tried any of these natural remedies for intestinal issues? What works for you?

ExchangeMyPhone: Excellent alternative to eWaste (or household clutter)

via exchangemyphone.com

Between the S.O. and me I'm going to guess we have at least a dozen mobile devices lying around this house somewhere. Some of them are likely worth nothing at this point (help, Palm Treo I'm talking to you!) But some are old, functional iPhones, and I bet they could still find a very happy home.

Have you ever used anything like the Exchange My Phone service?

Cats create art to support California shelter | This Dish Is Veg - Vegan, Animal Rights, Eco-friendly News

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Los Angeles (spcaLA) has been using an iPad App called Paint for Cats. Paint for Cats captures the cat's contact to the iPad, creating a unique piece of art.

via www.thisdishisvegetarian.com

Brilliant...I just bought a bunch of boxes of these. They're very affordably priced and will make lovely gifts for...well, some occasion.

Now if only my own Backyard Kitty would show any interest at all in the cat games for iPad I downloaded. Maybe I should try Paint for Cats instead...maybe he doesn't want to do anything as frivolous as play games...he's an artist man!

A better way to microwave popcorn?

Spotted this new microwave popcorn product on the Whole Foods blog.

They're only available in the Northeast right now, but this product has a lot of reasons to get behind it:

1. Husband and wife team created product
2. No leeching chemicals in the bag
3. No hydrogenated oils
4. No artificial flavorings
5. Organic corn kernels from family farms
6. Non-GMO
7. Partially funded by Whole Foods's Local Producer Loan Program.

It almost sounds too hippy dippy good to be true, doesn't it?

Sadly, not in California, and no indication of when it might be, but I thought I'd just make a little note to myself to keep an eye out for this product. And if you live up in the Northeast, check it out.

 

Shopping Site to Check Out: Ethical Ocean

Ever since hip & zen shut down, I haven't really fonud my replacement shopping site for all things, well, hip and zen. I have lots of vegan shopping resources, which I mostly troll for shoes, handbags and belts, but not so much the wider array of green, eco-friendly, fair trade and similarly ethically inclined products.

So now I'm checking out this site: Ethical Ocean. Their mission is to share products that are Good for People, Good for Animals, and/or Good for the Environment. And you can sort each product category by whichever of those three worthy goals is most important to you. I like that part.

They've got Matt & Nat handbags on sale, among other Fashion products.

They've got vegan chocolate, among other food and drink products.

And elecontrics, and home & garden, and pet stuff. Just a bunch of stuff!

So, bookmarked for me, and perhaps a new source for all things hip and zen.

Have any of you shopped there? How was the service?