Glitter and Singing Reindeer

Really? What must they think of us? Those in third world countries building electronic reindeer heads that sing Christmas carols? Some of us in these backwoods parts think they’re the cat’s meow, but man, what must those just striving to survive think as they wire and assemble these monstrosities we invent? I do enjoy and, I must admit, depend upon some really unnecessary objects in this life I lead. I have had to purge so many of my wonderful little sparkly Christmas ornaments. I guess we will be happy with our little clay and paper creations…an old fashioned Christmas, with popcorn on a string! But can’t we just get a little sparkle? A little glitter to catch the lights? So unnecessary, I know, in the whole scheme of things. I search and search the shelves. “Do Chinese kids use glitter?” I wonder as I pull yet another brand of Chinese made sparkly red from the shelf. I wish for a life like my distant cousin Laura Ingalls back on the prairie, but I don’t think I could live without tampons. Hmmm

Another Green Day

Yes, I’ll admit it. I shop at Walmart. I don’t like it, but it’s a thirty minute drive to any other store that might have everything I need at this very moment. As I walk the aisles, I notice the word green written on a tag hanging from a pair of flip-flops on a rack. Since the word is obviously not describing the color of these little shoes, I imagine maybe, just maybe I’ve stumbled upon a treasure! An American made shoe, could it be??? Wishful thinking on my part, I know. Finding a pair of shoes made in the U.S. could be compared with finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. I take the label in my hand and read of this wonderful sandal’s eco-friendly attributes. Recycled, sustainable. And, as I feared, sure enough, China. I’m not sure how green shipping sandals half-way around the world is. Good try though. I go home to search the internet and let a few green companies know what I think about their greenness…am I being bitchy? I don’t know. I just think using things like helping our environment as a pitch to sell things that aren’t really making any impact at all (or maybe a very small impact) is dishonest. It is dishonest, isn’t it? Jerking at people’s heart-strings like that. Naughty. I guess true tree-huggers will see through their schemes.