What Goes Around

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about two Letters of Appreciation I sent out. One was answered by email that same night... the other I figured was ignored.

Until today, when we checked the mail and I had a form letter from Bic and a coupon for a free razor. This was an especially interesting turn of events because of this line from Bic's "Contact Us" form: Please note that BIC does not send out free samples or coupons.

Just a trick, I guess-- crap, am I letting a cat out of a bag?

And it's fortunate that it happened today, because I've been having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. (It wasn't THAT bad, but still.) It was such a mucky day by about noon that I specifically stopped into Murray Brothers and picked up some sugar-free candy for my diabetic grandmother. No reason, no holiday... just because it's the Year of Philanthropy, and I've been slacking lately.

I also picked up a Reese's Egg for my mom, because a) it's her favorite candy, and b) clearly, she taught me to show my love through sugar.

Recycling Updates

Thought I'd update because I'm on cloud eight (which is really close to nine).

Dad informed me that this week we didn't put the can out on trash night. Why? Because we didn't have enough garbage.

Yeah, you read that right. We had less than half a can, as opposed to the two full cans we were filling a couple of months ago.

Can I express how happy that makes me?!

Today we made another paper drop-off at church. We're recycling our own paper, and we've added paper from mom's house and now my grandmother's house.

Because of our overwhelming success with the cloth napkin/recycled paper endeavor, we're implementing a new Tupperware bin for plastic. Again, I'm trying not to be crazy about enforcing it, but if we just rinse out milk jugs and 2-liter bottles, that thing'll fill up every week and we can recycle it through church.

I know the actual benefits of recycling plastic are questionable, but let me tell you two big things that being more eco-friendly has done for my family already:
1. It has changed our habits. We don't reach for paper towels, we flip lights off, we conserve water, etc. It's becoming less and less conscious.
2. It has opened up dialogue. My dad comes home exhausted most nights, but if someone brings up something related to recycling, he gets really excited and together we start talking about what has changed in the house, how much less of x we've bought, how much lower x bill has been, new ideas we have, etc.

I'm incredibly fortunate to have a family that supports me and my ideas, a congregation who shares my values and guides them to new levels, and friends who get excited and back me.

Response to Letter of Appreciation

Already received a response to the letter I wrote in last night's post:

Dear Erica,

I want to thank you for the kind comments and appreciate you
taking valuable time out of your day to let us know how we are doing are jobs. I
want you to know I have been the store manager of this location for the last 8
months and I could not have asked for a better group of people to work with.
Here at bigg's we believe our biggest advantage over our competition is service.
I also want to let you know I am going to post this comment for our employees at
the Eastgate location to read.
If there is any way we can be assistance in the future, please do
not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely, Tommy Brink

Drops in the Bucket

When you're tuned in to philanthropic opportunities, you can be overwhelmed pretty quickly. I typically glaze over at cash registers, for instance, what with all the "would you like to give a dollar to x foundation?" questions I've been pummeled with.

But today I tried to tune back in, and was granted two small opportunities. The first was at Starbucks-- apparently my local branch is collecting donations of coffee for local firemen, police officers, etc. Kind of hard to say no to, really. Anyway, I gave 1/4 lb., for a grand total of $2.73.

Then I had the delight of visiting the BMV for new license plates. The woman who helped me ("Tanya," based on my receipt) was really nice and incredibly efficient, and when she asked if I wanted to donate a dollar to Save Our Sight, I said yes. Last night I'd explored the possibility of getting license plates that benefit something like organ donation, but they're too expensive-- $1 is really more up my alley.

(Aside: If you live in Ohio, this unofficial DMV site is really quite helpful, if ad-crazy. Much more navigable than the official site.)

Such small drops in the bucket, I know, but I'm hoping it's like voting... my part is small, but vital?

Letters of Appreciation

I'm getting frustrated because a) I feel too broke to make a difference, and b) I've been working long enough hours that I come straight home and go to sleep, and I go days without even thinking about my beloved project.

So tonight I decided to make a small stand. Two companies that I appreciate tonight are Bigg's (local grocery store) and Bic (in this instance, they make razors). So instead of letting that love go unknown, I wrote each of them letters of appreciation. That's philanthropy, isn't it? I'm posting the letters, just to have something of content on this blog, geez:

I always shop at Biggs, even though Meijer, Kroger, Walmart, Sam's Club and Aldi are usually closer to me. Last night, because I was at an attached Borders, I stopped into Kroger around 11-- everyone basically ignored me, and it was a very cold experience. Tonight, as just about midnight, I stopped in to Bigg's to pick up a few things. A dozen people were stocking the shelves, and three times I was stopped with offers of help. Once, a male employee offered me the cart he'd been using. Another man climbed down from his ladder to see if I was finding everything. A female employee moved from her step-stool so I could see what I was looking for. These were all within about ten-fifteen minutes, total. This is the kind of thing that keeps me going to Biggs, at all hours of the night, at all times of the week. I want you to know that the employees at the Eastgate branch are friendly and helpful-- not just in this instance, but especially tonight. Thank you.

And the Bic letter:

Last week, Soleil was out of stock at my grocery store. Bummed, I picked up an equivalent disposable razor-- what's the difference? After using ONE of the razors ONE time, I drove out to another grocery store and found the Soleil. I will never take this product for granted again. Soleil is awesome, and if you care about your consumers at all, you will make sure that their local supermarkets are never, ever out of stock. Thank you. P.S. Thank you for the 2 bonus razors in this package. They didn't go unnoticed.

You know what's sad? Besides, maybe, my desire to write letters like this? Corporate sites rarely have a "sing our praises" section. One typically has to go through the questions/concerns/complaints form in order to compliment a company. I know it might seem tacky, but still... have some confidence.