Friday, November 09, 2007

Is it just me?

We just received an order of the soap nuts that we use for laundry, and in time too, since Mount Washmore awaits. We ordered it from a site called Alter Africa which is a site dealing in equitable commerce, and sells a variety of exotic and natural products, some of which are organic.
But those styrofoam packing nuts just don't sit right with me, it seems like such a contradiction. Is it just me? I know that sustainable commerce and environmental responsibility aren't the same thing, but in my head they complement each other. I searched the site to see if they mentioned using some kind of vegetal version of styrofoam, but nada. So though I'm happy for my order, it's just a tiny bit tainted. Guess I'll be stashing those nuts along with all the others I've kept and reusing them to send out Christmas packages. (Maybe that's what Alter Africa did?) Hopefully my recipients will keep the styrofoam moving around the world!

3 comments:

Rhi said...

i always wonder this too, fran.
it definitely seems a little ironic next to what you ordered.

i have a big collection of styrofoam ;) i have a big collection of packaging in general! postal recycling is the most exciting kind, in my mind.

Ann Marie said...

Huh, that's weird, isn't it? It's not the kind that melts with water?

Nathalie Kalbach said...

Yeah- I know there are serveral weird things like this going on - but as you said- those two things go together with me too. I would write them an email about this - maybe they haven't even thought about this and would change it?