Noitalever: Long Day

The Burt's Bees Rosemary Mint Shampoo Bar that I purchased in Moscow may smell wonderful, but it is crappy. It worketh not at all. The reason for this, says Karen, is that it lacks shampoo's active ingredient. It left my hair just...grime-y. It gets an "A" for effort, though. I wrote Burt's Bees and they have promised to send me a product of equal value (I selected the Radiance Exfoliating Bath Bar because it intrigues me and is packaged in cardboard) as compensation.

I found out in this same correspondence that Burt's Bees is replacing the plastic seals on their lip balm (the non-tube kind) with paper ones. Burt's Bees is out of Durham, NC (where I'm going this summer), so if I can I want to go get products like these at some sort of reduced rate. I might do some sort of contest and give some away here.

Anyway, I seriously digressed from my point: I was on a mission. I needed to find replacement shampoo. I went to Natural Living in Lebanon, and was pleased with their overall store. It had a lot more stuff than I'd ever thought...I'd only been in there once before. They can order stuff, so if you're stranded in Lebanon due to high gas prices, perhaps a good option would be to work with Natural Living. One of their struggles right now is publicity, so we seriously need to let them know that we appreciate their efforts and we know that they're there (did you see that? All three homophones! That was hard to type!).

I did not find another brand of bar shampoo there, or shampoo in bulk. I was reluctant to try another bar anyway, so I tried to think around that. If I bought in bulk, I'd need a container to put it in. When I went to Goodwill on Tuesday, I found some canning jars that I plan to use until I can afford something different and more purpose-oriented. I also found two more canvas bags for groceries. One has a cow on it and says "potatoes." I kid you not.

I went to the Corvallis Co-Op today with Karen. I struck gold! Seriously. They carry three brands of shampoo in bulk. I chose the cheapest one after Karen confirmed that it had that special ingredient that would actually make my hair clean. I put it in my coffee cup from PDX because it's all I had...and they let me, so yay for them. I cannot remember the brand, and that's MY BAD, but you must forgive me...I was lacking in sleep. If this shampoo is successful, I will figure out what brand it is and pimp it like no tomorrow.

I was very pleased with the Corvallis Co-Op's attention to detail. For example, they had new plastic containers, but also an assortment of glass containers in every shape and size (almost). Additionally, they had used containers that had been sterilized for putting bulk food in for transit. I was won over when I found that I could buy Ketchup and Mustard in bulk. I don't use either, but the idea that I could really impressed me.

I was not very pleased with the prices. For example, the Eco-Dent Floss was twice as much in Corvallis as I'd paid in Moscow. However, I will take into account that everything is cheaper in Moscow. Still, I felt that the prices were still fairly reasonable based on how clean the store was, how helpful the people were, and how wide a selection that they stocked.

Much later today, Karen and I went grocery shopping at Safeway. I brought my own bag, but Karen had a hard time putting vegetables straight into the cart/bag. She confirmed an idea that had been floating around in my head - there is need for smaller canvas bags (in addition to the grocery bags) to replace the plastic veggie bags. I went to Wal-Mart on my way home and picked out lengths of four different 100% cotton, utilitarian fabrics. I made Karen (and J'Aime, just for kicks) an assortment of drawstring bags for fruits and veggies, or really whatever she wants to put in them. I plan to make some grocery bags too, but I have to do those by hand - they'll take longer.

Oh...BTW, I got cocktail glasses for the shindig at Goodwill. They are actual glass, but I figure J'Aime can keep them or whatever for future fun. And they're mismatched because I found some cool, one-of-a-kind ones there and I didn't want the other five or six to match except for those.

So? Less Plastic? Yes...slow and steady.