What A Waste

'Scuse me while I have a snit. I try to live my life in a gentle to the earth, waste less way. Sure it's a work in progress. We haven't gotten to the zero waste lunches we aim for 100% of the time yet. We're still a 2 car family despite the composter, recycling bin, and 2 water barrels. But we're trying... we really are.

Then the corporate sabotage comes. As a blogger I'm sent a LOT of shipments of products to review, prizes for our readers and PR whatnots and most of it is greatly appreciated, professionally sent, and not overkill. 

Then there are the exceptions... Last year I was incredulous a tea company sent a FedEx box from the west coast, at great expense. What treasure did they send me? A BOTTLE OF SAND with a scroll inside, inviting me to a press event!!

But that pales in comparison to THIS WEEK. Grrrrrrrrr. I'm gritting my teeth. Don't worry--no names to protect the guilty. But... I was sent THREE different Priority Overnight FedEx shipments from California to Chicago, containing a padded envelope within a medium box. If that wasn't expensive and wasteful enough... What were the wondrous contents that had to be rushed half way across the country?!

• Box #1 -- a Blu-ray movie and 2 plastic toys (wasteful, yeah, but maybe almost justifiable since we were reviewing the release, though it still makes me cringe)

• Box #2 --1 plastic toy & 1 sheet of stickers (WTF people... really?!)

• Box #3 -- 3 sticker sheets, 2 plastic toys, and a tiny t-shirt (C'mon people. You're killing me!)

I mean, really. I know you make a bazillion bucks on your movies, but it would be awesome if you cut some of the shipping waste and made your tickets cheaper so more families could go out and see a movie without going broke.  Or maybe you could run more paid promotions for bloggers, who are mostly well educated, overworked, un or underpaid professionals. Maybe you could even put the extra shipping/savings money toward some eco-friendly philanthropy. 

I don't want to bite the hand that feeds... but this is seriously bugging me! I'm trying to be zen about it and think of all the FedEx employees who have food on their tables due to this insanity. But the carbon footprint to send 1 sheet of stickers and some plastic crap across the country, padded enveloped and boxed, priority FedEx, and hand delivered--signature required?! It makes my head spin.

Anyone else have cognitive dissonance at this kind of corporate craziness?? What's the most wasteful corporate thing you've been sent, or seen, or participated in?

Thanks guys. I just had to vent! Now back to our reviews.

WIN a $25 Gift Card for Mrs. Green's Market #GreenIsGood, #giveaway, #Coupon, #EcoFriendly, #ad,

Disclosure:  ChiIL Mama is elated to be partnering up again with Mrs. Green's Market, one of our eco-friendly favs. We have been compensated for sharing this promotion with our readers and thank Mrs. Greens for providing the coupons for our readers and gift card for our winner.

Spring has sprung and there's no better way to celebrate the green of spring in Chicago than by saving a bit of green with these ChiIL coupons and a shot at winning a $25 Mrs. Green's Natural Market gift card. Click here for some of our past Mrs. Green's coverage.

**FLASH GIVEAWAY**

WIN A $25 Mrs. Green's Gift Card. 
CLICK HERE TO ENTER THROUGH MIDNIGHT 4/4!

Everyone wins with these $5 off coupons (valid through 4/12):

Mrs. Green's Natural Market is a neighborhood store, passionately committed to clean, natural foods.

• We source the best local products whenever available — from  your favorite groceries to produce and baked goods, we support local.
• Dedicated to health and sustainability. Devoted to customers who care deeply about the foods they eat.
• We are dedicated to offering you healthy, good food at an honest price.  We will always provide quality food and supplement and encourage you to be healthy
• Our goal is to educate and inspire our customers to eat well and live a good, healthy lifestyle.

Worlds Collide Alert: ChiIL Mama was invited to Big Fork Thursday for a bountiful bacon sausage blogger brunch. Check back soon for our full feature! You can purchase Big Fork's fabulous, local, sausages at Mrs. Green's Market! In fact, the last time we were at Mrs. Greens they were doing a sausage demo so successful everyone was raving about them and stocking up on their 4 retail flavors.  We were already in the check out line, but the buzz was so big we finished our purchases, circled around, and went BACK in to sample Big Fork's mighty fine meats. We're so happy we did. They are amazing!   Mrs. Green's has great goodies for omnivores, vegetarians and vegans too. Come on by and check them out!  It'll please your palate. About Mrs. Green's:

Mrs. Green’s opened in Lincoln Park last November, and they are currently working to expand their presence in the area by adding additional stores.

“We want to celebrate the greener times ahead by inviting the community to join with us for a spring celebration,” CEO Robin S. Michel said. “The senses of renewal and freshness that people associate with spring serves as a great metaphor for the types of products and fresh produce that we offer. Following the long winter that Chicago has endured, this is a perfect opportunity for the community to gather together and enjoy fresh delicious food, local music and community spirit as we welcome in the new season with Mrs. Green’s.”

“We’ve identified Chicago as a perfect market for our growth in the Midwest,” Michel said. “We want to welcome the city of Chicago to visit the Lincoln Park Mrs. Green’s and try a new, healthier way of grocery shopping.”

About Mrs. Green’s Natural Market
Mrs. Green’s Natural Market (www.mrsgreens.com) is a subsidiary of Natural Markets Food Group (www.nmfg.com), a privately-owned business that consists of retail food stores and food service restaurants. The company operates over 30 locations in the U.S. and Canada, and is based in Irvington, N.Y.

Disclosure:  ChiIL Mama is elated to be partnering up again with Mrs. Green's Market, one of our eco-friendly favs. We have been compensated for sharing this promotion with our readers and thank Mrs. Greens for providing the coupons for our readers and gift card for our winner.