slapping some cents into you?

Lawmaker puts price on use of plastic bags | By Jimmy Vielkind

"If Assemblyman Micah Kellner has his way, someone carrying a plastic bag full of groceries would get the same disdainful looks that might be directed at a pregnant lady smoking, or someone walking away from the stinky contribution their pooch has made to a New York City sidewalk.

"I want to make it a faux pas to be seen on the street with a plastic bag," said Kellner, a Manhattan Democrat. "While we may use plastic bags for a couple of minutes to bring home our groceries, they stay in the environment for thousands of years."

Kellner is sponsoring a bill, introduced late last month, that would impose a 25-cent tax on every plastic bag used to carry groceries or other store merchandise in New York City. The same bill would incentivize the use of reusable shopping bags -- made of canvas or thicker, sometimes recycled plastic -- by allowing grocers to give them to consumers if they leave a quarter as a deposit. After a year, the unclaimed quarters would be swept to City Hall's coffers. A tax break would be offered to cover "a majority" of the cost of reusable bags, which cost over $1 on the low end, more if you want hemp or recycled cotton.

Kellner notes that because plastic bags often end up as litter, his measure would keep streets cleaner. And if the bags do make it to landfills, the non-biodegradable, petroleum-based sacks outlive us all.

Kellner cited a reusable bag company's claim that the average American will go through 60 bags after four shopping trips.

David Vermillion, a spokesman for Hilex Poly, the nation's largest recycler and manufacturer of plastic bags, framed it this way: "By that math, he's taxing a family $3.75 every time they go to the grocery store -- money they could use to buy milk for their children."

Vermillion notes that plastic bags are 100 percent recyclable, and many municipalities have taken steps to make it easier for consumers to have them reprocessed. Albany County unanimously passed a law in 2008 requiring stores larger than 10,000 square feet (the size of the average Price Chopper or Target) to place bins outside their doors allowing consumers to drop off used bags. It mirrored a similar law that went on the books in New York City earlier that year.

Price Chopper stores also offer a 3-cent-per-bag rebate for customers who bring their own reusable carriers. But the Big Apple's residents still go through 5.2 billion plastic bags a year, according to a 2009 estimate by the New York City Department of Sanitation.

"That's billion with a B," said Kellner..."

Read the rest over on TimesUnion.com

Thoughts?

clean sweeps

+ This is so cool! (I wish I lived in New York! Oh wait, I wish that whether method's there or not! But alas...) Via method's people against dirty blog:

"exciting news! we’re teaming up with Goodwill Industries to offer new yorkers an easy way to spring clean their closets for a good cause with our ‘wash smart, give smart’ clothing donation truck in nyc from may 13 – 15. we don't have any pictures yet, but there will be a mobile laundry room housed in a glass truck that will appear at specific locations, allowing people to drop off new and gently worn clothing. we’ll take care of washing all items before delivering them to several Goodwill locations in new york to be resold.

thursday, may 13
10 AM – 6 PM
soho-- broadway between houston + prince

friday, may 14
10 AM – 6 PM
union square

saturday, may 15
11 AM – 7 PM
herald square -- 35th st. between 6th + broadway

passers-by are encouraged to spontaneously donate an item of clothing off their bodies, and the first 200 people who donate items each day will receive a free 25-load bottle of method laundry detergent. there will also be a photo station, samples, games and prizes, plus a few special guest appearances.

this is part of a bigger ‘laundry smarts’ movement we’re launching to encourage people to re-think and improve the way they do laundry. stay tuned, more to come!"

Ohh, it sounds so awesome! And I'm lovin' the "part of a bigger laundry smart' movement" with even more surprises on the way! And uh, yeah, a glass truck! I repeat, a glass truck!

+ I headed on over to Babys R' Us this weekend (or rather the small section in my local Toys R' Us) and found the new baby products in sweet pea and crisp apple. Here's hoping they make the crisp apple in "adult" scent, cause it was YUMMY! As for the sweet pea, it was as others have described it, a very light rice milk + mallow scent. I personally could smell more baby powder in this variation (but then again I can smell a light baby powder fragrance in the almond wood for good, so either I've got a very nifty nose, or I'm insane. Who knows?)

But I found another product that isn't even listed on the Babys R' Us site! It's a spray cleaner for your baby/kids room, called Play Clean, and is also in the sweet pea scent (though the bottle doesn't mention it as such, it has no fragrance listed, but you can tell it's the same.)

Has anyone tried these new scents? Thoughts?

+ Missing your favorite aircare products? Well, right now (not sure for how long, I'm guessing it depends on the amount of their remaining supply) you can still find the aroma pills (and I think the rings, I can't guarantee that at the moment) at your local Lowe's Hardware! Unfortunately they aren't refills, but rather the starter kits (pill with refill, etc.) but no matter, if you're already going into aircare withdrawal, this might help tide you over! Lowe's hasn't discontinued the line within their stores as of yet, so they're still full price. But as Lowe's supply dwindles, they'll start running out, so snatch some up while you still can!

(And while you're there, don't forget they're one of the only retail stores that still carries eucalyptus mint foaming hand wash!)

lost and found in detox town

Oh oh, look! "Lost" pics from a New York method detox party that happened last year! I lust these! Everyone having so much fun, tasty food, and wonderful method products! Unfortunately, there are no plans for detox parties this year (sniff sniff), but man, I'd still love to have one of these myself! Hmm... I might have to talk with someone at method about this... Oh, but uh, yeah, until then, enjoy these pics!

alpha mom

Over on Alphamom (the woman who has made me so happy at the moment! I never thought I'd say that! Ha ha! Oh, I just crack myself up. Too bad it's only myself I crack up.) She has a great post on her recent trip to the detox New York pop-up store. Keep in mind the store is now closed.

"True Cleaning Confessions: what's your dirty little secret?

Did you get all OCD after your firstborn? I read that post-pregnancy, new moms get all germaphobic and that it's not their fault. Apparently, it's part of the typical hormonal changes that many women get, along with varying degrees of postpartum depression (PPD). Luckily both are highly treatable.

In my circle, we talk a lot about maternal depression as an issue, but not nearly enough about anxiety and OCD. Perhaps some health care professionals classify these as symptoms of depression? All I know is that I have had it all, anxiety, PPD and OCD as a new mom, as well as OCD on its own when I was a tween. I think when we see a germaphobe new mom, we poke fun rather than give her the supportive smile that she really needs.

So, when I stopped by Method Home's NYC pop-up store (it's temporary, sniff), I couldn't resist jumping into their Cleaning Confessional Booth and sharing my dirty little secret: when I had my newborn, I couldn't stop washing my hands! Oh dear, the amount of soap, paper towels, water and time I wasted. But, I guess, I just couldn't help myself. I feel much better now that my secret is out in the open.

If you need to get a dirty little secret off your chest, I suggest you stop by the Method Home store which is traveling around the country. It's in NYC's Soho neighborhood through June 7th, and then it's going to Minneapolis, MN and then Charlotte, NC."

Sha, sha! See, she says it right there! C.H.A.R.L.O.T.T.E. N.C. Yay!

detox review

method luster netta got the extremely lucky opportunity to head on over to method's detox new york (now over! Where will they be next?) and gives us her review:

"I had to email you and tell you about my experience at the pop up shop here in NY. I went on Saturday since it was the last day and arrived around 10:15am with 2 bags full of toxins (since I became an advocate, I cleared out all of the toxins in the house and put them in my garage so I have tons of toxins to get rid of) and I was greeted with a lot of smiles, hellos, and thanks for coming and bringing the toxins. I am so bad with names and should have written them down but didn't. I was in the store for over half an hour talking with the employees about my experience with method and how I began using method products. (remember my bathroom incident? yes I told them about that). Then they told me about the company and the people that work there and that they are busy creating products to make their customers happy and I loved every bit of it.

I had so much toxins with me the employees almost gave me all of their products for free. I received 3 tear drop handwashes (french lavendar, sweet water, and sea minerals) and 3 moisturizing handwashes (almond flower, white tea, and olive leaf) all for free for bringing all those toxins. I wanted one of the "plastic bag rehab" totes so I had to purchase five items to get it. I picked 2 wood for good (I have a lot of wood furniture), lil bowl blu, and 2 baby lotions (I use this for my sensitive skin and I love the smell) and I was only charged $20 with tax. If I purchased these items at Target I would have paid about $28 dollars before tax. While I was making my purchase one of the employees threw in the kids body wash in both crisp apple and fuzzy peach. I was so excited.

Oh this you are going to love....they had a few bottles of their new line coming out in the fall (that's what they told me but in your blog it said August, so I'll just have to see), something minerals. I can't believe that I forgot the name. It has the word minerals in it but I am sure that you know what I am talking about since you stay on top of what is going on over at method and oh my goodness they all smelled good. I wanted one so bad but they were all part of the display and couldn't get it. I understood though, I'll just have to wait until it comes out but I was still satisfied and happy with all the free stuff that I got. I think that I got so much free stuff because it was the last day in NY but I enjoyed my visit and had a great time with the employees. This pop up shop idea was so genius of method. I have more toxins in my garage to get rid of but I think that they are going to stay there for the next time method comes back to NY. Hopefully it will be sometime next year.

Oh my goodness, I lust method so much."

OK, you got a sneak peek of the new (at the time titled Marine Naturals) personal care line? (They may have changed the name.) I AM so jealous! AND I can't believe of all the photos of detox New York I've seen, I have yet to see these products in a pic! Maybe they're in some super secret special place where no flash photography is allowed? Hmm, I'm gonna have to beg a certain someone for a sneak peek! (Let the begging begin! You KNOW who you are!) Thanks for the review, Netta! I can't wait to see the pics you also took!

par-tay! method style

Wow! Check out these great images from the recent method Detox New York! The Great Sarah! took part in some wonderful method in-home parties, where guests were introduced to method, and told all about it's amazing virtues! Along with fantastic food (including method themed beverages), wonderful company, and swag, swag, swag, what more can you ask for! I'm hoping Sarah will get a chance to give us more information pertaining to these cool parties! (She had to be counting down the days 'til I found these photos and plastered them up here on method lust! Right? Thanks Sarah!)




Ain't she just the purtiest!

design mom: method party

So just how jealous am I? Check out this great Detox New York party:

"Best Thursday Night Ever. Can't wait to report. The event: I hosted a fantastic party at the Method pop-up shop in Soho. I can freely say it was fantastic, because I was responsible for nothing more than the guest list. And I should mention, the guests were the best part — a smart, hilarious and creative group of women from my neighborhood.

The highlight of the evening was refurbishing second-hand-store dishes into works of art. Our crafting leader for this project was the famous Danny Seo. Who kept us entertained and informed and happy. He is lovely. And clever. And patient. Danny has an empire of books and dvd's and magazine columns and tv appearances and I'm embarrassed that I didn't know more about him until last night. But he is some kind of creative genius and I have serious plans to stalk his blog forevermore. The most important thing you should know about Danny: he was named one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world by People magazine. Because he's a total hottie.

The basic instructions: we used sheets of computer sticker paper to draw a silhouette. In my case, an elephant, but there were all sorts of great ideas. Fish rounding the edges of the plate. A well-drawn initial. A beautiful moose. Then we adhered the sticker to the plate and covered the plate with some kind of made-for-ceramics paint. When it was dry, we peeled off the sticker and voila! there was our silhouette on our happy refurbished dinnerware. We were told to bake them for 20 minutes at 350º to make the paint permanent.

What a great project! I think this would be fun to do with my kids — I'm having visions of a cute set of dessert plates for the holidays.

The food was yummy. The company was yummier. And to make things even better, while the paint on our plates was drying, we discovered the Method photo booth. Designed to showcase cleaning confessions — our dirty little secrets.

There were lots of photo booth photos that had been left behind by past party goers. The one that made me laugh the most said: I like bacon more than friends. And I don't mop my floors. I had 3 thoughts when seeing that photo: 1) Totally. 2) I think I would be bff's with the subject of that photo. 3) She should totally check out kirtsy. It's like a bacon showcase over there.

After we photo-boothed to our hearts content, it was time to send us home with generous swag bags: reversible, reusable grocery totes filled with Method cleaning products and a super cool tee that says "Cleans Like A Mother." Fun, right?..."

Read the rest over on Design Mom!

danny does it again

Pop on over to the people against dirty blog (method's very own!) to read the latest Danny Seo fun from method's detox New York!

"While we're in NYC at our pop-up-shop we've been throwing some VIP (very important parties) events in the night. Lucky for us, our co-conspirator Danny Seo has been giving us a helping hand in leading 4 eco-parties this week. Danny has been taking guests step-by-step through 2 simple eco-friendly craft projects. Want to make the same cool projects at home too?"

Click on over to the blog to get full instructions on making your very own painted plate, or turning an old tile into a cool coaster!


(Uh, I don't think the lady on the left liked her tile very much, what do you think?)

lotsa new york lust

Lots of great new method detox New York pics! Thanks to Racked New York and psfk.

gettin' new york clean!

More wonderful Detox New York pics! Enjoy!


Look at all those cute gumballs! Who thinks method should start making gumballs! Mmm... ok, maybe not. (Thanks to PSFK for the photos!)

detox new york pics

Thanks to method's people against dirty blog!
Are you in New York? Go detox!

the detox train keeps on movin'

While the method Detox campaign/pop-up shop is currently in full swing in the grand city of New York (hey, have you made a visit? Take some pics, send them to method lust and I'll post them and any review you'd also love to submit, full credit shall be given! Hey, I'm a nice guy that way!) Could the next Detox stop we... Minneapolis? While a rumor at the moment, it sounds like it might be true! I'll keep you posted!

detox new yawk!

method is coming to NYC! They'll be setting up SoHo's pop-up shop at 550 Broadway (between Spring + Prince), and from May 13 - June 7 will be showing people how to detox their homes. Be sure to stop on by and chat with them, check out their aroma stations and the mix and match kits they'll be bringing especially for you. They'll have cool products, great deals and free swag when you buy one of their detox bundles!

They also say:

"Got any skeletons in your closest? Come clean with our “dirty little secret” cleaning confessional booth to detox yourself and all your dirty little confessions. We'll also have a "toxic turn-in" - bring us your toxic cleaners and we'll not only dispose of them properly (most likely at a hazardous waste site - a good sign they shouldn't be in your home!), We'll also give you free hand soap and additional discounts in return. Oh, and if you whisper the words "big green apple" to the salesperson, there are even more discounts to be had.

What can we say - bribery can be a good thing when it's done for a good cause."

MAN oh man I wish I could be there! In fact I got an invite to go! (Ok, I'm sure everyone got an invite, it's an open event; but alas it makes me feel rather snappy, ya know, gettin' an offical invite!) But geesh, I don't see it happening. Unless God rains down airline tickets onto me one morning, or I win the lottery! Oh oh, I might win the lottery! Yes! That's it! Oh, but wait, I gotta play first. Dang! Well, if anyone goes let me know! Take some pics and you can guest blog on method lust about all the fun you had!