This new ‘eco’ company is selling Vermont Maple saplings in sets of three to dog owners everywhere. I wasn’t planning on posting this at all (more on why in a sec) but then today I ran across this piece: Guide to the bleeding obvious, which made me laugh, and I wanted to share. The bleeding guide is a hilarious look at Fetchstix. It’s totally worth a read, but that might be where the funny stops; at least for green-minded dog owners.

Here’s the scoop. I get a promo email about 12 days ago about said Fetchstixs. I head to the site, because natural dog toys seem pretty green to me, and what am I greeted with? The image below.

I find it funny when people send me emails about products for my green blogs then send me to a site with a forest that’s there one minute and gone the next. I also see that the sticks are made with saplings, which excuse me if I misunderstand, but aren’t saplings baby trees! I think to myself, maybe they’re getting these sticks from scraps, so I look around the website and nothing.

I email back noting one, I don’t write about pets, and two, I might if the pet product is eco-friendly but that I’m not seeing the eco-connection here. It’s been 12 days and I haven’t heard back so I’m guessing there is no eco-connection.

If you top off this product with emissions made by the shipping process, this becomes an even less suitable ‘eco’ dog toy. That said if you bookmark their page you’ll see they’ve tagged it with “Funny eco gifts for dog lovers” so… I don’t know, maybe they think it’s an eco gift.

Around the eco-blogosphere folks are on the fence as well.

• Treehugger is ambivalent. BUT read the comments to see what their readers think (not so on board).
• Alternative Consumer (a favorite green blog of mine) seems ok with them.
• My friend Peggy, also a green blogger is fine with them on her pet blog. (I still adore her).

There are also folks who aren’t so on the fence. Some of us think this is a lame idea. Like Pet Show Blog and this person who I randomly found on Facebook – BTW – I’m not on board, I wouldn’t buy them. I can’t sign on with these as a green product. Sorry folks.

What do you think?

Post from: Blisstree

Three ‘eco’ dog sticks for $13!? Um…

However, here’s the deal. When you blog people like to send you free stuff. That may sound great, but I don’t like getting free stuff. I think we’ve pretty well established that I don’t love a lot of extra stuff, and while I sometimes get handy items that I use, mostly I get stuff that I just turn around and give away in a contest or to a friend.

That said, I received a different sort of white board item last October. I did a review and liked it, but really, I didn’t think I’d be using it all that often. In fact, I almost gave it away. That would have sucked, because as it turns out, it may be the one and only item a company ever sent me that I use every single day. Every day, no joke.

What’s this wonder item:

It’s the Jot-It desktop writing board from cocoa. It’s not a typical white board. It’s desk friendly. It’s not desk friendly for me because I have a small desk. What I use it for is a to-do lists system. I keep it in the kitchen and write down groceries I need, phone numbers, tasks I don’t want to forget, and more.

Last October I wrote a super long review of the Jot-It at my Office blog. Since I’m not going to rewrite the review here, you can read it there. Just to get you tempted, here are some pictures:

I will say here, that this is a great green product that can save on paper use, and help to get you organized at the same time. Additionally, one of my cons, in my old review, was that pens were not offered at the cocoa online shop – I felt it would be useful to be able to pick up more from cocoa directly. Well, since then they have added pens to their online store. Cool beans that a company listens to consumers in my opinion.

I will also point out that I LOVE the pen that came with the Jot-It. I’m still using the original pen, and remember, I use this daily, and I got this in October. That’s one good pen.

In any case this is not some plain old white board item. You’ll really like it. You can use it in your kitchen, on your desk, at the office, or really anywhere. Read my old review – or simply visit cocoa’s website to learn more.

Post from: Blisstree

Another Dry Erase Board – Seriously?