remember when...

Did you know at one time method's all-surface spray cleaner was called Home spray cleaner? Pretty cool, right? And it only came in lavender. You also had Kitchen, in grapefruit mandarin (I still can't figure out why they got rid of this scent, it blows pink grapefruit away!), Shower in the ever fabulous ylang-ylang, Glass in mint, and Bathroom in cucumber. Yeah, most of these scents are still around, but at one time they were all specific to certain areas of the house!

Curious to know if anyone still owns some of these old-skool bottles? Check back this weekend for a post on hoarding (ha ha ha! No but, uh, really, hoarding!) long-gone-so-long method products!

it all adds up!

As much as I preach, beg, and scream about using reusable bags whenever you go shopping, to the grocery store, anywhere you might be subjected to the "paper or plastic (or SHUDDER, just plastic!)" question; it hasn't been the easiest thing to get people to convert. I mean, what do THEY get out of this deal? Saving the planet, ending global warming, helping Mother Nature? Bah! Who's got time for that! Show me the money!

And so, places are starting to do just that! Ok, so you won't get rich from it, but hey it's a start! And Target has joined the bandwagon! Starting recently, every time you use your reusable bag/tote, they'll take off five cents from your total purchase! I know, I know, five cents?!? Come on! But I'll bet you it's the cost of that plastic bag you're about to walk out with. So it's sorta a little bonus, you know? You save them five cents, and they give it to you! AND, just imagine, if you're as much of a Target shopaholic as I am; and you start counting up just how many times you head off to Target, adding that up over a year, the five cents could turn into something more substantial! A new house? Eh, no! But who knows!

Right now it's hit or miss, I was officially told it's their new policy, but I've had some cashiers do it, others not so much. I think it's like the reusable tote thing in general, at first you have to beat it over their heads every time you bring one with you. "NO! Take that out of the plastic bag! I have a reusable tote!" and after a while, you have them trained, and they're just standing there holding your items, waiting on you to open that magical bag of wonderment for them to fill full; to which you can then go home, unload, fold up, and prep it for the next trip! And the next, and the next, and... so right now, if they don't make mention of it, bring it up to them! "Oh, did you give me my Target reusable bag discount?" It NEVER hurts to ask!

Well, it might if you don't. You might be five cents poorer. So next time, give it a try! (Oh, and if you aren't already, USE reusable bags! method has some wonderful plastic rehab bags; and I'll be a total salesman and let you know my favorites are Baggu bags! They come in a zillion colors, are strong, and just rock (and now they even come in canvas!) So you have no excuses! None, nada, zip, zilch! (That'd be a big zero, good buddy!)

crafty tricks or treats!

Just in case you haven't had a chance to check out these two nifty Halloween craft projects (cause method lust is behind, behind, behind! But then again, uh, you all know why by now, right?)

First up (see above photo) are these awesome method cut-outs you can use to carve pumpkins! method says "trick or treat? we’ll take both. we like to get crafty from time to time, so we created some custom pumpkin-carving stencils to celebrate our favorite holiday (dressing up in costume for fun? yes, please). just download, cut, stencil, carve, decorate…you know the drill." You can download the stencils here! And all the details are here! And they are even having a contest! "Show off your pumpkin carving skills and win. go to our Facebook page and upload a picture of the pumpkin you carve with your method stencil. the winner (chosen at random) gets a fall cornucopia-inspired batch of products. just think gingerbread spice, almond, vanilla apple. Total value $50. contest ends 10/31/09."

AND, and, right now (until 10/31/09) you can get 20% off any purchase on methodhome.com! Just enter the promo code halloween09 during checkout!

Here are some of the method pumpkin entries!




+

Second up is this oh so cute "carved" hand wash bottle! Danny Seo, method's Healthy Home 'co-conspirator', has come up with this quick and easy craft.

He says: "As a magazine editor, i’ve put together many halloween parties photographed for the pages of some of the largest lifestyle magazines out there.

what many readers don’t realize is that the beautiful buffets of halloween treats, intricately carved pumpkins illuminated by the flicker of candlelight, and the fabric-draped ghosts hanging in the trees over bushels of hay stacked just so took days to put together. and behind the scenes, there are glue-gun wielding stylists lugging suitcases full of every crafting supply and tool you could imagine. in other words: good luck on re-creating the bewitching projects!

so, when my friends at method asked me to come up with a halloween craft idea, i jumped at the chance but decided to keep it realistic. some rules:

+ i wanted to “upcycle” existing method packaging
+ the supplies had to be things most of us have around the house.
+ it had to be quick.
+ i’ve been using (and loving) the “guest star” limited edition mandarin mango hand wash i picked up at target. using that, here’s the world’s easiest upcycling project for halloween.

1. find some black duct tape
2. cut out eyes, a nose and a mouth
3. stick on the bottle.
4. voila! pumpkin hand wash!"

Have fun! And Happy Halloween week!

think big!

the big (96 ounce!) bottle is back! You can now find method's ginormous hand wash refill bottles at your local Bed, Bath & Beyond! It comes in two scents: sea minerals and sweet water (what, no lavender?! What in the world, method...) So go and grab up a few bottles! And then, when you're all finished, you can make yourself your very own method fish tank! So cute! (But uh, how do you change the water? Hmm!)

method lust is back!

This. Was. Me. - All last week! What happened to method lust? Did you wrap it up, Nathan? Were you over and out? Finished? Mopped up (using the ever snazzy omop, mind you!) No! It's called "welcome to the wonderful land of domain name transfer!" It's too confusing to even discuss, but it has to do with the methodlust.com address, and me deciding to move it to a new provider, and OH MY WORD was that a bad idea! So all last week method lust was gone. MIA. History!

Thanks to everyone who contacted me asking where their (hopefully!) favorite blog (well, ok, favorite method blog! Cause really, my ego isn't that big. Trust me.) was! Cause baby, we're back now! And while today I've got to run into work all day long (yeah, don't ask about that either. It's Sunday, right? Yes, yes, it is.) I've got some great Halloween posts I've been dying to get up on here! (Oh and one about disposable razors, too!) So hold on, updates are coming! Your overabundance of exclamation points, commas and squeaky green cleanliness has returned!

holiday is really real here?!

method lust reader Tracy says in her email to me she practically ran home to tell me the big news! (Which is so sweet of her! Thanks Tracy!) While roaming the aisles of her local metro Atlanta Target last night, she actually stumbled upon a brand spankin' new holiday sparklin' method endcap chock full of holiday candles in frosted bowls and hand soap! In all the 2009 (2007) holiday scents: cinnamon bark, hollyberry, and peppermint vanilla!

Looks like this might just be a case of one Target store getting a bit prematurely excited; but it is supposed to hit at the end of October/early November! So if you happen to see holiday method hit your Target stores (or any stores for that matter, as I believe that hand wash is available to all stores, while the candles are a Target exclusive. Yeah, I could go back and re-read my previous post, but I'm sorta lazy tonight!) drop me an email or leave a comment and let method lust know what you found!

(Karin, you're just going to love this! Ha ha!)

go phosphate free!

Great deal from method! You can receive free shipping (which is like saving a fortune, cause their shipping costs are insane! But yeah, method already knows this) with the purchase of method pink graepfruit smarty dish (pouch only) on methodhome.com. enter the promo code “cleanH2O” (make sure to capitolize the H and O) at checkout.

The deal is valid through 10/21 midnight pst! And be sure to read their post on phosphate free states (is yours one of them?)

method quickies

Some quickies here! (Mind. out. of. the. gutter, people.)

+ No, nathan (oh wait, that's me, so perhaps I shouldn't speak in third person to you, like I did the other day to the woman at the Panda Express restaurant. Yeah, I'm thinking when the person in front of you (oh, that'd be me in the role of "person in front of you") says "And I should probably stop speaking to you in third person." You more than likely smile politely (as she did), while reaching for the red panic button underneath the counter in order to silently notify the police, hoping that Sybil doesn't appear. But hey, what can I say? I like to shake things up! And so do I! Ha ha! Get it, get it, oh, just don't get it. It's better that way.) Anywho, no I haven't left you, dear readers! Life has once more taken ahold of me, shaken me left, right, up and down, and otherwise kept me from frolicking in the land of blogging, cause I just haven't had the time! But never fear, I'm still here!

+ Winners of the advocacy kit contest, and the u review contest are: (Drumroll please...) Brandon Makrides and Kirby! Congrats! Kirby has been really lucky here, as she also won the previous mandarin mango hand wash contest! (And all winners are chosen at random, unless othewise specified; so I'm not playing favorites here! Ha ha!) AND poor Kirby (if you're reading this) has still not even received her hand wash, cause I'm a slacker! (I'm HORRIBLE at sending out contest winner packages! Mind you, you WILL get them, as everyone who's won a contest on method lust will attest to; it JUST might take a bit to get it out to you. I'm working on that! Ok? Less slack, more attack!)

+ The method lust Q+A is now closed, and I'll be sending off your selected questions to the method team very soon! Look for answers to be posted in an upcoming well, post!

+ method lust reader Jamison wanted me to let everyone know he found a slew of method candles (but he hasn't told me where, hmm...) in all sorts of scents! So if there is something you're looking for, he can probably get it for you! Just drop him a comment in this post if you're looking for a candle scent, and want him to pick it up and send it to you, if he finds it; and he'll get back with you! He also wanted me to tell you he has Paypal, so it'll be easy, too!

+ method luster Jean is SO freakin' sweet to me! She has (get this) a small amount of bamboo (oh yes, bam- oh my word -boo!) multi-surface spray cleaner which she has been hording forever, cause she loves the scent so much! Bamboo was one of the very first fragrances method put out in their spray cleaner line, way back when! And she so nicely sent me an email, wanting to see if I'd like a small spray bottle worth to try out, since it's one of my three remaining Holy Grail method scents I've never tried (pumpkin spice and coral being the other two.) She just let me know it's in the mail, and I can't wait! Yes, I'm insane like that. Giant thanks, Jean! Giant! I'm giddy!

method eco-maniacs play farmer

Great post over on method's people against dirty blog about eco-volunteering!

"our eco-maniacs* team was at it again a few weeks ago with a volunteer trip to Slide Ranch to help clear some land and learn about sustainable farming. Slide Ranch offers visitors hands-on learning about the impact our choices have on food, health, and the environment, through activities and independent exploration of the farm and coastal wild lands. not only is the ranch educational, but it is beautiful!!!"

And get this, I love it (and wish my company was this forward thinking!)

"*method gives each method employee 3 days per year to spend volunteering in our community. we can use them either for company volunteer events or for personal volunteer projects."

How rockin' is that?! Head on over to their blog for more pics, and the rest of the post! Oh, and check out the first pic above, method's Grassroots Guru Anna is sitting next to a bottle of method hand sanitizer! Too funny! (And isn't this the perfect realization that they need to make this in a more portable size?)

behind the scenes

You know, I've always been interested in seeing just exactly what happens to my recyclables once I've thrown them in the container, and the waste management trucks have picked them up! So I finally did some investigating, and it's rather interesting! Check it out!

lovin' the lavender

method's french lavender (and pretty much all of their lavender scents) are some of my favorites! The lavender hand wash, the dish soap, multi-surface spray cleaner; lavender + juniper dryer sheets (may you rest in peace! I've currently got nine packages of these in my method vault! Nine! Crazy!), and the lavender + lemongrass aircare! Lavender, lavender, lavender! And believe it or not, there was a time I didn't like the smell of lavender at all; until a friend of mine got me to plant my very own lavender bush, and I've lusted it ever since!

What's all this lavender talk about, you ask? Well, I went walking into my local Target this weekend, and noticed the lavender dish soap was on clearance! I dropped to my knees, wailing and releasing horrifying words that shall not be repeated in the presence of small children, kittens, or the faint hearted elderly; and cursed the very idea that, could method really, truly be discontinuing the lavender dish soap?! What would I do? First mint, now this?! (Cause seriously, pink grapefruit and cucumber. Gah. That's all I have to say on that subject.)

So I ran home, forgetting that I'd driven to Target, quick as I could in order to contact method and see what exactly was going on. In the meantime, noticing that two other Targets had already cleared out their lavender dish soap. It was gone, empty, only the ghostly space remaining where once stood many a happy lavender dish soap bottle.

And then I got my answer. Apparently pink grapefruit and cucumber are Target's top two method dish soap sellers (let me rinse and repeat, gah?! Seriously?) so they're abandoning the lavender (probably in order to make more room for Downy dryer sheets or Tide laundry detergent; cause well you know, there just ISN'T enough of those products sitting on Target's shelves. Word!) So from now on, it looks like our best bet for lavender dish soap (which PS. is NOT being discontinued!) will be Lowes Hardware!

I am now breathing a grand sigh of relief. And dreaming of my hands frolicking in method lavender dish soap bubbles floating in the sink. Cause, well, those are just the kind of whacked out dreams I have, ok?