What's on your Won't Do list?

[intothewoods]

I really don't think so. If I passed one, I didn't notice - but isn't the point that they're massive? I'm assuming they'd be hard to miss.


Here's another item on my won't do list: I won't cross picket lines.

Me neither.

I can't believe you've never driven by one. What about Target?

I have seen Walmarts and I have lived in a city or just outside for the last six years. Wait a minute. Maybe I haven't passed one around here and I just think I have. Hmm. I know there's one not too far because I contemplated going recently, but then it didn't happen. I mostly pass them on long interstate drives, which I don't take often but do take. I can't believe you've never seen one.

I don't go in often at all. Eeeevery once in a while, I will just have a want for some random thing at 1am. Walmart is the only game in town.

viv has a boycott of Walmart going. I don't think she's set foot in one in 2-3 years.

I haven't either. I'm actually off Target too, primarily because it's too crowded.

I know a lot of people who boycott Walmart for ethical reasons but still shop at Target. I have to say, Target sells the same sweat shop stuff as Walmart. They probably treat their employees somewhat better. On the other hand, Walmart (in response to all the negative publicity, no doubt) is now selling affordable organic. I think it's a mixed bag.

Even I notice them and they are very very non-descript, it took me a while. Try the down in the heels inner tier burbs.

This made me giggle.

 

[Homburg]

On the other hand, Walmart (in response to all the negative publicity, no doubt) is now selling affordable organic. I think it's a mixed bag.

I have noticed some affordable organic, yeah. It's an ethical conundrum, no? Buying organic is good, but buying from Walmart is bad.

 

[satindesire]

I love Target, can't lie. Their bathing suits are adorable!

 

[Shankara20]

I love Target, can't lie. Their bathing suits are adorable!

and they have a great pantie selection...

 

[WriterDom]

and they have a great pantie selection...

I can see you there.

"I'm sorry Sir, but the store is closing. Put down the panties and leave please."

 

[Shankara20]

I can see you there.

"I'm sorry Sir, but the store is closing. Put down the panties and leave please."

Sometimes they have to say "Take off the panties and leave please."

 

[Recidiva]

I shop at Target and Walmart. I think a lot of their bad PR is combination of sour grapes and individual douchery. Not necessarily crimes against the human race that are implemented at a corporate level.

I think they've experienced catastrophic success and people don't like them for that reason alone, and the media plays that up.

And they do have decent organic selections, Target in particular. Their "Archer Farms" brands have some serious yumminess to them.

But I go to Whole Foods also. Their organic selection is higher, but I also think they overcharge for the boutique effect.

I'm in Orlando and the stores are close, good and high quality.

 

[JMohegan]

Me neither.

I can't believe you've never driven by one. What about Target?

I have seen Walmarts and I have lived in a city or just outside for the last six years. Wait a minute. Maybe I haven't passed one around here and I just think I have. Hmm. I know there's one not too far because I contemplated going recently, but then it didn't happen. I mostly pass them on long interstate drives, which I don't take often but do take. I can't believe you've never seen one.

I've heard of Target, but never been to one. No idea if I've passed one or not.

I did drive out to a Home Depot once. Not an experience I'd repeat, unless I had no other options available. Fortunately, I have a small neighborhood hardware store that serves me just fine.

I know a lot of people who boycott Walmart for ethical reasons but still shop at Target. I have to say, Target sells the same sweat shop stuff as Walmart. They probably treat their employees somewhat better. On the other hand, Walmart (in response to all the negative publicity, no doubt) is now selling affordable organic. I think it's a mixed bag.

Local organic?

Organic lettuce, flown in from Argentina, doesn't get high marks from people like Michael Pollan. Hence his beef with Whole Foods.

 

[JMohegan]

To explain properly would take pages but here's the Reader's Digest version:

The old method for commercially harvesting shrimp involved using a "dragger" - nets dragged along the ocean floor, held down by metal or wooden planers. Ninety percent of the catch was bycatch, (ie. not shrimp), and thrown back dead. As well, the planers completely destroyed the habitat they moved over. Ocean genocide. Well, when regulations were brought in to stop this disgusting practice, the companies didn't mothball their fleet, they just sold them off to countries without regulations. Because these countries are usually third world, they sell their shrimp for cheap, which means most shrimp you find in a store or restaurant has been harvested by the old method.

As for the other species, the bill fish have been overfished to the point of near collapse. Sharks are being slaughtered in such huge numbers it's hard to process, (mostly for shark fin soup and they just take the fins and throw the sharks back in the water, alive, and let them slowly bleed to death). Farmed salmon just wrong on every level. If you dive beneath a salmon pen, you will see the sea floor below is a wasteland because of all the excrement that has settled there. Also, they frequently escape, spreading disease to wild salmon and traveling up rivers and creeks, where they eat wild salmon fry. With proper management and regulations, wild salmon would thrive.

Did I say I was going to keep this short?

The ocean has been raped in a way that would never be tolerated on land. But out of sight, out of mind. Humans treat the ocean like it's half all-you-can-eat buffet and half garbage dump. As a general rule, I avoid any commercially caught fish, wherever possible.

Thank you for explaining.

This is just depressing as hell.

 

[Keroin]

Thank you for explaining.

This is just depressing as hell.

I know. Sorry. I just try to focus on the positive, which isn't always easy when you wake up some mornings to people gillnetting in your "front yard". Sigh.

There are days I just want to say "F--- it", but then I'll go out and swim with a turtle or have a cleaner wrasse nibble on my legs and I'll think, 'OK, it's worth the fight.'

 

[Shankara20]

Find someone who buys the gold they work with from Hoover and Strong. They have a gold reclamation project and sell reclaimed gold.

good info - thanks

 

[Shankara20]

With proper management and regulations, wild salmon would thrive.

Great info - I'm glad to see you post all that.

There are also some problems with labor exploitation issues if one purchases salmon farmed in Chile - it is a full time job just keeping up with all this stuff...

 

[Keroin]

I shop at Target and Walmart. I think a lot of their bad PR is combination of sour grapes and individual douchery. Not necessarily crimes against the human race that are implemented at a corporate level.

I think they've experienced catastrophic success and people don't like them for that reason alone, and the media plays that up.

And they do have decent organic selections, Target in particular. Their "Archer Farms" brands have some serious yumminess to them.

But I go to Whole Foods also. Their organic selection is higher, but I also think they overcharge for the boutique effect.

I'm in Orlando and the stores are close, good and high quality.

One of Canada's, (and the world's), foremost Eco Guru's, David Suzuki, has started working with Walmart to help them improve their environmental practices. He's taken a lot of flak for this but his argument is that, hey, they aren't going anywhere so why don't we at least start nudging them in the right direction.

I'm OK with that.

Here's a quote from a recent article about the above:

"Last week, Wal-Mart announced it is replacing 1.75 million 32-watt light bulbs in its stores with 25-watt versions, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 17,000 tonnes, the equivalent of taking 1,700 cars off the road. "And, as a business, it will save us $5 million a year," says Groh. "There's a very happy marriage between business change and environmental change."

I love David. He's one of my heroes.

When it comes to being green and socially conscious, I think most people just feel overwhelmed. (Hence the reason I kept my Won't Do list to only four items). To my mind, the world's biggest problem, which is the mother and father of most of the other problems, is simply that there are too many people on the planet. Not much I can do about that.

Still, I do what I can in other ways.

 

[Recidiva]

One of Canada's, (and the world's), foremost Eco Guru's, David Suzuki, has started working with Walmart to help them improve their environmental practices. He's taken a lot of flak for this but his argument is that, hey, they aren't going anywhere so why don't we at least start nudging them in the right direction.

I'm OK with that.

Here's a quote from a recent article about the above:

"Last week, Wal-Mart announced it is replacing 1.75 million 32-watt light bulbs in its stores with 25-watt versions, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 17,000 tonnes, the equivalent of taking 1,700 cars off the road. "And, as a business, it will save us $5 million a year," says Groh. "There's a very happy marriage between business change and environmental change."

I love David. He's one of my heroes.

When it comes to being green and socially conscious, I think most people just feel overwhelmed. (Hence the reason I kept my Won't Do list to only four items). To my mind, the world's biggest problem, which is the mother and father of most of the other problems, is simply that there are too many people on the planet. Not much I can do about that.

Still, I do what I can in other ways.

I love David too. He's my kind of environmentalist. He's for slow, evolutionary change and not catastrophic panic. Which is good. That's what we need. Slow and steady. I am angry as the people who play up the problem making it seem insurmountable, humans irredeemably evil and the future hopeless. There's no solution for that. But I think it's doable. The trick is to actually do something, and I don't think hate is the answer.

Too much despair results in nothing but more despair. Small changes that make huge differences are what matter. And I'm happy to say that of all the small changes Suzuki recommends on his site, I was already doing 'em before I read his list, but reading his list made me happy.

The answer to Global Warming lies very much in the "less hot air" camp.

 

[WriterDom]

I got a Walmart shopping bag yesterday. I figure I need two though or I'll forget them. If I try and keep two in the car I will surly have one. I call it my Obama bag.

 

[Keroin]

I love David too. He's my kind of environmentalist. He's for slow, evolutionary change and not catastrophic panic. Which is good. That's what we need. Slow and steady. I am angry as the people who play up the problem making it seem insurmountable, humans irredeemably evil and the future hopeless. There's no solution for that. But I think it's doable. The trick is to actually do something, and I don't think hate is the answer.

Too much despair results in nothing but more despair. Small changes that make huge differences are what matter. And I'm happy to say that of all the small changes Suzuki recommends on his site, I was already doing 'em before I read his list, but reading his list made me happy.

The answer to Global Warming lies very much in the "less hot air" camp.

Exactly.

Look, I've shopped at Walmart. I've lived in places where the only place to buy something as simple as a facecloth, without driving fifty miles, was at Walmart. My beef with them is mainly that they crush local businesses by selling cheap, imported crap but then it is also the responsibility of the community to support those businesses.

In Nelson, BC, (ah, did you hear that angelic music just come on?), Walmart came in and wanted to build a massive box store on a prime piece of waterfront. The community came out en masse and said no way and, when it looked like Walmart might win, they got together and bought the land out from under them. Walmart did get a store but a normal sized one, in the town's only strip mall, (which hardly anyone patronizes because the local business scene is so good).

Often it comes down to getting off our asses.

 

[Homburg]

I did drive out to a Home Depot once. Not an experience I'd repeat, unless I had no other options available.

Too much damned orange. I'll stick with Lowe's and their ubiquitous blue....

Fortunately, I have a small neighborhood hardware store that serves me just fine.

This is becoming more of a problem. It seems like the little neighbourhood hardware stores are slowly dwindling. I can see it in the face of the big box places like Lowe's and Home Depot, but there's also a quality issue. When I walk into the hardware store, I expect the people working there to know more than I do about hardware. When I'm talking to their paint guy and he can't tell me which primers are sandable, I have a problem.

We've got an Ace here locally, and it is basically a neighbourhood store, but the above example of sandable primers happened there. If I go talk to the guy at Lowe's, I am more likely to get good info.

I wish we had a Southern States closer. The selection's not as good as a Lowe's, but the people there are generally very knowledgable, and they are still small enough not to be Lowe's or Home Depot.

 

[Keroin]

I got a Walmart shopping bag yesterday. I figure I need two though or I'll forget them. If I try and keep two in the car I will surly have one. I call it my Obama bag.

Yeah, I had to keep mine in the truck or I'd never remember them! Here I always keep one inside the seat of my scooter.

 

[Keroin]

When I walk into the hardware store, I expect the people working there to know more than I do about hardware. When I'm talking to their paint guy and he can't tell me which primers are sandable, I have a problem.

This.

At the Home Despot I used to patronize, there were about two really knowledgeable staff in the entire store. I clung to them like they were a life raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

[Recidiva]

Exactly.

Look, I've shopped at Walmart. I've lived in places where the only place to buy something as simple as a facecloth, without driving fifty miles, was at Walmart. My beef with them is mainly that they crush local businesses by selling cheap, imported crap but then it is also the responsibility of the community to support those businesses.

In Nelson, BC, (ah, did you hear that angelic music just come on?), Walmart came in and wanted to build a massive box store on a prime piece of waterfront. The community came out en masse and said no way and, when it looked like Walmart might win, they got together and bought the land out from under them. Walmart did get a store but a normal sized one, in the town's only strip mall, (which hardly anyone patronizes because the local business scene is so good).

Often it comes down to getting off our asses.

I have no problem with selling inexpensive merchandise with a big selection. I really don't. I may not buy it, but they can sure as hell sell it.

This is the sour grapes part. I think people WANT this and they're providing it. Saying the people have been "duped" is reversing the responsibility of the seller. Walmart recognized a need and filled it.

Lots more people get off their asses to go there and buy things than they do to protest. I think the competition is scared in the way that American car makers got scared and pushed a "Buy American!" campaign. If the competition can't compete - whose fault is that?

As to people overseas making money - fine. I also don't insist that the labor be American and I don't really consider it to be "cheap" in any way. Foreign laborers work their asses off and if I can contribute to THEIR communities doing better, good for me.

I think that's why it's catastrophic success. The people trying to compete by having a low inventory and "high quality" only, are screwed.

If you don't have the money to do a startup, you can't compete. But I consider this to be a free market force. You can blame Walmart, but they're not the problem. I don't think there is a problem other than the people who can't compete and the people who don't like to think they're "cheap."

 

[WriterDom]

Walmart killed all the Dime stores. But niche stores can do well. We had 4 grocery stores here before Walmart expanded. One closed but the others seem to be doing pretty well. Their service is better. I don't think much training goes on at Walmart. I can't walk through Home Depot without 3 or 4 people asking if I need any help. Walmart workers avoid eye contact.

Walmart does give charity to local communities.

 

[Recidiva]

Walmart killed all the Dime stores. But niche stores can do well. We had 4 grocery stores here before Walmart expanded. One closed but the others seem to be doing pretty well. Their service is better. I don't think much training goes on at Walmart. I can't walk through Home Depot without 3 or 4 people asking if I need any help. Walmart workers avoid eye contact.

Walmart does give charity to local communities.

Walmart employs the disabled. I like that. And they're prominently working in every store I go to. Dime stores do not have the same policy or community support for the disabled at all.

I think service varies location to location and manager to manager, but overall, seeing greeters in wheelchairs makes me glad to be there and spending my money.

I don't like it when anybody asks me if I want help. I'm a grown up. I'll ask if I need it, otherwise I consider it intrusive.

 

[WriterDom]

Walmart has been pissing me off lately. For a while they wanted my damn zip code every time. Lately they ask if I want to apply for a credit card. Next it will be my phone number like Radio Shack.

 

[Homburg]

This.

At the Home Despot I used to patronize, there were about two really knowledgeable staff in the entire store. I clung to them like they were a life raft in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Yeah, when I mentioned the Lowe's, it was talking literally about the paint guy. I can go over to plumbing and get similar good info, and fantastic help fromt he guy that manages the desk in the contractor's area. But if I walk into hardware and start looking for bolts and fittings, I might as well be by myself. And don't get me started on the people in the rope and chain area.

Okay, maybe the last one isn't really fair.

As an aside, I went through and replaced the majority of the incandescent bulbs in the house with natural light flourescents. Regular flourescents give me headaches, but the natural light ones are fantastic. I still need either incandescent or halogen for my desklamp (better light for the colour work I do when painting), but I'm digging on the CFL's. Man, the heat difference is ENORMOUS. I actually found myself missing the heat during the winter.

Also redid the screen door on the deck and installed a screen door on the front of the house. We get a lovely breeze through the bottom floor now, and it will extend the time where we can keep the AC off. I'd like to get new windows, as ours suck, but I don't have the cash for that right now.

 

[Keroin]

This is the sour grapes part. I think people WANT this and they're providing it. Saying the people have been "duped" is reversing the responsibility of the seller. Walmart recognized a need and filled it.

Noted. However, people are short sighted. What they want NOW and what they want long term are usually two different beasts.

For example, I want a cupcake, (a chocolate cupcake with real butter cream icing and sprinkles), now. In fact, I want cupcakes constantly at my disposal. I want to eat cupcakes five times a day, every day. Will this make me happy right now? Hell yes! Will this make me happy in the long term? Um...yes.

OK, bad example.

So, I want a bowl of chocolate ice cream now...

Nope, that won't work either.

*Goes back to drawing board*