Surprising Finds at Aldi

For those of you who know me well, it will come as no surprise that I am an Aldi shopper. It's cheap and it's near my house. And Aldi is one of the greenest stores I can think of--they don't throw away their boxes, they give them to customers to carry their food in. They encourage the reusing of their bags (or the bringing of your own) by charging you for them (they're quite high quality, too, so you would definitely not throw them out). They don't spend money on trendy displays or energy-hogging light fixtures.

Their food is very high quality, and they have a double guarantee--if you're not satisfied, they will refund your money, and replace your product. They have organic blue corn tortilla chips (the Fit and Active brand) that are low fat and delicious. Their higher-end pasta sauces have no weird ingredients or high fructose corn syrup. They have recently started carrying green tea in tea bags that have no metal--so you can just throw them on the compost pile without stabbing yourself trying to pry open the staples. They have whole grain breads. Their butter is cheap, and its ingredients are cream and salt. The cheese isn't bad either--they have a delightful Dill Havarti. It's really not that hard to find almost everything you need there, and they've recently increased their produce section to include a lot more fresh vegetables and fruits (mostly conventionally grown).

Other things to love:
Your car (or bike)is safe from wayward carts, because you "rent" a cart for a quarter, ensuring that people will return their carts to get their two bits back. It really is a model of a well-run store. They don't have nearly as many employees as most grocery stores, because they don't need them to wrangle carts, break down boxes, or straighten the displays. It takes a little getting used to, but the money you can save makes up for having to bag your own groceries--and let's face it. Sometimes it's better that way.

Mother's Day visit recap

Well, I've just returned from Iowa with a vanload of stuff to use in the store, and some awesome vintage jewelry components to give a new life. It was a short visit, but well worth the time--both materially, and to just spend some time with the folks. Mom and I had a lovely girls' day on Monday. She wanted to show me all the great gift shops they have in Pella. They have a lot of gift shops in Pella. It's a little Dutch town complete with windmills and a Tulip Festival (which was the first weekend in May). She introduced me to one of the owners and told her about my entrepreneurial endeavor (which at first was embarrassing, but then Barb was gushing about what a great idea a green gift shop was--something Mom had not been entirely convinced of until then). You see, I think she wanted to show me all the cool stuff I could sell, if only I wasn't going to be so green. For everything she showed me, or mentioned, I countered with a greener alternative. Either I changed her mind, or she just gave up.

After our tour of quaintness, we headed out to the Tassel Ridge winery for a little tour and tasting. Then we stopped and looked at plants at a couple of greenhouses and went to a well-deserved lunch. Oh yeah, and I got her to go to the Pella Thrift Store. This is just short of a miracle. She has amazing potential in the thrifting arena--she knew I was looking for vintage Pyrex refrigerator dishes, and she spotted some before I did! And she hid any grossed-out feelings she may have been having. She even approved of the vintage bassinet I bought to use as a display for my baby section! Who said you can't teach an old broad new tricks?

One of her Mother's Day gifts was that I reconditioned her butcher block table. They got it about 28 years ago, and it was starting to look tired. One of my potential (and now certain) vendors had sent me some samples of their natural furniture cleaning/conditioning products, so I took the butcher block conditioner to them for a trial. Wow. Howard Naturals is now on my A list.

My Debut

I am quite happy with the way the Bloom -n- Zoom turned out! Lots of Berwynites came by considering it was a Saturday morning. I sold a little bit of everything that I brought, which makes me think that I selected good products with acceptable price points. And the wrap-n-mats went over big--that was probably my "greenest" item (and it really is a fabulous idea). Got a lot of people signed up for the email list, and I passed out quite a few business cards with the website on them. I think that it was a good confidence booster and I'm even more excited to get the store up and running. The Depot District Merchants' Association had a table there too, and they were pimping my store and all the others in the neighborhood too. They got people to sign up for our collective mailing list as well. There are a lot of things happening in the District throughout the year, so that will be a good way to remind people of those (antique car cruise nights, Oktoberfest, Christmas events, etc.).

So now I'm off to Iowa to spend Mother's Day with mine. I'll get to browse their basement for props for the store too!

Bad News about the Rain Barrel

Well, I have a disappointing report on our rain barrel (and this is only OUR rain barrel, not a universal disappointment). It has been pouring all morning, and our rain barrel has a hole in it! Jon ran in to tell me about it on his way off to work. He tried to duct tape it, but it was so wet and he was in a hurry. So I went out to inspect. Yup. It's a leak alright. I tried to dry it and tape it some more--that helped a little. I made a duct tape spout (kind of) and tried to channel the gushing water into the watering can. When that started to fill up it slipped off the precarious perch I had it wedged on. Not cool. Then my inner MacGyver came into play, and I found one of those wide elastic belts that were popular in the 50s and the 80s. Now I'm a big gal, but I'm not rain barrel big. Luckily, elastic gets really loose as it ages, so with a lot of muscle, I was able to cinch the rain barrel with my old belt! We now win the most well-dressed rain barrel award. The rain sounds like it's letting up a bit, so I may go out there and try to dry and retape it, and then I'll put the cute little belt back on it. Now I'm thinking that an old tire inner tube would work well (although it wouldn't be so stylish). Hmmm. . . where to get one of those. . .

--12 hours later--

Well, my search for inner tubes led me to Pomp tire in McCook. They repair truck tires, and when I told them I'd take busted ones, they were more than willing to help me out. I took all the ones they had (about 5). Now I'm trying to decide what to make out of my newfound supplies. . . I only need a small part of one of them for the rain barrel. Truck tires are really big. There's a company in the UK called English Retreads, or something like that, that makes cool purses out of old tubes. I wanted them for the store, but I'm trying to keep it all relatively local. Plus the shipping would kill me price-wise, and pollution-wise.

It's raining, it's pouring. . .

. . . and I'm thrilled! I just came in from planting seeds in the garden. We're running out of room out there. Jon went nuts with the ones he planted inside, so we have about 50 little tiny tomato plants--I don't know what we'll do if they all make it! And our neighbor's (adult) daughter gave me 3 tomato plants last night. They were called "Mr. Stripey" so I couldn't refuse. I can't wait to try striped tomatoes! Today I planted spinach and cilantro. I'm so happy that the rain came after I planted them and not during it all.

Another reason to rejoice about the rain: we bought (and installed) a rain barrel! It almost made me cry to hear Jon sawing away at our copper downspout (it's so pretty and patina-ed) but now that it's up, we can save money on water for the garden, give the plants fresh, unchemicalized water, and keep the storm sewers flowing properly. It's a win/win/win situation. You can purchase rain barrels at Green Home Experts in Oak Park (there's a link to their website at the bottom of this page). We got ours from the Water Reclamation District. It's just for Cook County residents, but I think most municipalities are offering them. I've linked to their site--click on the title of this post, if you're local. We put ours up on cement blocks so the watering can fits neatly under the spigot. I think a lot of our neighbors got one on Saturday. Scott and Suzanne, Chuck and Diane, and Jon and I all were installing them at the same time. Chuck gets first prize for efficiency, Scott for attractiveness. His is up on decorative rocks, not cement blocks. We get the prize for judging the "contest".

Act locally!

We've all heard the saying, "Think globally, act locally". This is a main focus for my store. But I wanted to get my business cards printed on recycled card stock with biodegradable inks. What's a girl to do? There is a web printer called GreenerPrinter.com that seemed like the perfect one to do my business cards. But I thought I should check with the local guy--Able Printing Services, who is right across the tracks from my store at 6837 Stanley Avenue. Well, Able does all kinds of green printing! They were totally helpful, and they'll have them done a lot sooner than the web place. And I can just pick them up and save on shipping and the pollution that comes with it. I guess my point is this: just because you don't know if there's a local resource for what you're looking for, just ask! I really didn't think that Berwyn would have such a great printer. And their shop has been family-owned and operated right here for over 35 years. Who knew?

The Bloom -n- Zoom is going to have a lot of flowers and plants to put in your garden, and they are being sold by a local greenhouse. Where do the plants at Home Depot come from? I don't know, but I'm pretty sure they're not from around here. We just need to think more about local resources--which is easier to do now that gas is almost $4/gallon. Yeah, the plants might be a little more expensive, but they're probably worth it, for many reasons.

Countdown to Bloom -n- Zoom!

I have less than seven days until my first official Fly Right Gifts appearance. I've been getting products in, and I'll have them for sale in my tent. So far, I have
* cotton dishtowels from Red & White Kitchen
* reusable totes
* handmade soaps from Sunfeather
* Sjaak's organic chocolates
* cooking sauces from Rozana Cuizine
* Wrap-n-Mat reusable sandwich wrappers/placemats
* table cloths and napkins
* Kraptacular Krafts candles in vintage glassware (that's a Fly Right exclusive)
* organic sugar body scrubs (another exclusive)
* earrings made from reclaimed vintage beads
* locally handmade cards
* recycled glass candle holders

And special guest exhibitor [wired] featuring men's and women's jewelry made from recycled industrial materials! She'll bring it all for the B-n-Z, and I'll have a smaller sampling in the store.

You can click on the title of this post to see the official Bloom -n- Zoom info from the Berwyn Development Corporation.

Now I have to get work making displays, candles, body scrub, and praying that the weather is nice. Keep your fingers crossed. . .