Mixed Feelings on Swap.com

Good morning everyone, it sure has been a while since we’ve connected over here I know. I keep saying that too but luckily I know myself well enough to not promise that it will get better because who knows where the wind will blow me next. I just hope that the proverbial wind has a turbine to store its power because I feel like I’ve been around the world and back and that would be some useful energy reserves for sure!

I come to you today with a follow up of a company and concept that I talked about back on June 13, 2010, Swap.com. At the time they were named Swaptree.com and a bloggy buddy of mine turned me on to the concept as it was a one stop shop to trade books, movies, CD’s and video games. For just the cost to ship the item back and forth you could have a whole new library of media at your fingertips.

Eager to get started, I signed up right away. There were issues with setting up my account and my gut reaction was to give a Two and a Half Leaf Rating. After things were fixed I changed it to a Four Leaf Rating but I think I should have gotten a little further in the pool before throwing leaves around like that.

I listed a book that I had already read that was sitting on my shelf gathering dust. I created a wish list of books that I was interested in receiving. Then I waited. But not for long! By the end of July I had a trade partner who indicated they had the book I wanted and that they wanted the book I had. Sold!

Within a day or two I purchased a bubble mailer (couldn’t believe I was out of them in my stash!) and hit the post office to ship the book. All totaled I spent about $6.00 to get this book out. The book I traded for was one that our Book Club was going to be reading in the coming months so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it.

Then I waited. And waited. And waited…

In the later part of August I initiated an issue with the trade on the Swap.com website. It was somewhat easy to navigate as there were links to click that said I hadn’t received my trade. We went back and forth through the end of August and into mid September before the trade partner (who had long ago given me a fantastic rating mind you) got in touch to let me know the book had shipped at the end of July.

That was it. No sorry you didn’t receive it, gee it must have gotten lost in the mail, nothing. I understand that things happen but with only one trade under their belt so far and such a lag in communication I was starting to smell the signs of something fishy.

With no additional recourse I had no choice but to just basically deal with it. I had spent money to get the book out to them but I chalked it up to my karma bank and went on with my life. Right after I cancelled my account with the site.

Then, early last week, a package arrived from Amazon and inside it was the book I had traded for. Mind you, I had already gone out to my local used book reseller in September when the trade died and purchased this book, so clearly I didn’t need a second copy.

I started to worry myself that I had somehow ordered it online without remembering and I checked all my accounts but there was nothing to indicate I had spent any money on this item. And with the return address being listed as my own, I was mystified.

Then this morning (November 3, 2010) I received this in email from Swap.com:

“Your trade partner provided the following additional information: The replacement has been purchased and sent through Amazon and the order info is: xxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxxxx The order will be received by the recipient on October 22, 2010 and tracking is available.”

October 22 was two weeks ago, pretty close to when the item was received. Way to be on the ball there guys!

I do not regret my decision to cancel my account as I feel that this is clearly the wrong outlet for me. I know that some of you have had great experiences with them and I hope you continue to have those great experiences because that is what makes the internet amazing, the ability to seek out and find what works and what doesn’t for each individual. For me…well, I’ll stick with Half.com when I’m ready to get rid of media from now on.

Awesomeness Defined

Well I finally did it this morning, I Googled ‘awesomeness’ and you want to know what I discovered? There is a whole lot out there on this one little word!

First of all Urban Dictionary defines awesomeness as:
An unmeasurable amount of awesomenimity something can produce.

Wow! That seems above and beyond the best ever right? And that was just one of the definitions. The general rule of thumb seems to be that awesomeness is something way beyond the standard level of awesome.

Next I discovered that there is an entire website dedicated to nothing but awesomeness -- awesomeness.com. Score! Well I’m not exactly sure where the 585 area code is but if you live there you can have Awesomeness come on over and hook up your computer network. Not only that but they will service or repair it too.

Scrolling down I discovered that you can actually buy awesomeness from Amazon.com. Well that didn’t exactly surprise me considering they have everything else for sale over there but then again, isn’t awesomeness a state of mind? I had to explore further. Turns out awesomeness is a tag that users can attach to products on Amazon. Some of the things people considered for the awesomeness category include: a T-shirt with a great white on it, Stanley heavy duty utility knife blades, organic celery seeds, Living Life As A Thank You book, the Planet Dog Cozy Hemp Adjustable Harness and so many other items I could never list them all. If you’re looking for products that are even better than awesome head on over to Amazon and check it out.

Going back to Google I also found out that I can listen to awesomeness. Over at Last.fm people listen to their favorite grooves and rate them in categories including awesomeness. Curious what some people think of in this way? How about NOFX, Radiohead, Michael Bublé, Beats Antique, The Appleseed Cast, Alice In Wonderland, Skye, DJ Bitman and Paramore not to mention a whole bunch of others. Not sure who any of those acts are? Well Last.fm lets you find out!

I was also amazed to learn that awesomeness is available to watch, read, join and most importantly read about. For example, Harvard Business Review has an entire post dedicated to what awesomeness means to businesses everywhere entitled The Awesomeness Manifesto.

And all of this was only on the first page of the search! Whew!

I guess what it all comes down to is that awesomeness is everywhere, we just have to be open to recognizing it even if it isn’t defined as such.

What is your personal awesomeness?

Raw Energy “Cook” Book is a Winner

I admit it. I am a meat eater. Tradeoffs have been discussed in my neck of the blogosphere many, many times and this is one of those instances where I attempt to do things that help to offset; because even though it is not often there are times I still enjoy a roast beef sandwich. But like anything I attempt to eat this in simple moderation and because of that I have begun looking into a whole new world of amazing food opportunities.

One of our favorite foodie bloggers over here at Green Leaf Reviewer is Miss Muffin (formerly Wild Ginger) as she provides us with a world of vegan delights that never (and I seriously mean never) fail to impress. But lately I have been hearing a whole lot about this raw food craze and started to wonder if it might be possible to supplement my diet as a whole with something from this genre other than a salad.

Enter the book Raw Energy (124 Raw Food Recipes for Energy Bars, Smoothies, and Other Snacks to Supercharge Your Body) by Stephanie Tourles.

Excuse me? Did someone say snacks? I was immediately intrigued as this is my greatest weakness when it comes to food. I will raise my hand right now, stand up and admit to being a junk food junkie.

So when I read that the snacks in this book are all natural yet include things such as cocoa powder, coconut, lemon, sea salt, agave nectar, blueberries and a myriad of other bold and delicious flavors I started making a shopping list.

Seriously how does Texas Tango Salsa, Mighty Maine Blueberry Muesli, Chocolate-Orange Vibration Bites or Cantaloupe-Coconut Crush Slush sound? In addition to these recipes there are about 165 more pages jam packed with yummy goodness.

What really made me the most happy, however, were the first 93 pages of this book. Not only did Tourles go into amazing detail about a plethora of snack essentials to stock the cabinets with she also discusses the benefits and energy enhancements to snacking raw. As a newbie to this type of eating I found her information invaluable.

It would be unfair for me to attach a Leaf Rating to this book as of yet, mostly because I have not made enough of the recipes within to properly do so in a fair and unbiased way, but what I will do is encourage everyone to pre-order it on Amazon** immediately!

Look for this to be rated in the next couple weeks!

**Please note the book I received seems to be an early edition as the book currently available for pre order on Amazon is titled Raw Energy 125 Raw Food Recipes for Energy Bars, Smoothies, and Other Snacks to Supercharge Your Body ISBN #978-1603424677.

Shaving Waste From A Landfill with a Razor Sharpener?

Here in the United States there are several large companies that provide tools for hair removal through a blade of some sort -- Gillette, Norelco, Bic and Schick are some of the best known to provide disposable or electric shaving implements. Electric razors are a good environmental choice as they help reduce waste from landfills since the heads or foils will be used many more times than a disposable blade but they are also a draw on electricity as they recharge through a base unit. Since the base can be unplugged while not in use however a moderate offset can be achieved. As a gal who prefers to take care of this particular activity while showering, an electric solution is not feasible for me so I have been interested to find something that would extend the life of the razors I do use if at all possible.

While watching television I was introduced to a product called Save A Blade which claims to resharpen the blades of disposable style razors, therefore extending their life to approximately 200 shaves from a single blade. I was intrigued and decided to look into reviews of users who had tried the product to see if others think it is as great as it claims to be.

The first place I went was Amazon because I have never found the reviews to be held back -- if a user loves or hates the item they share their opinion freely. Save A Blade received nine reviews for a mix of two with five stars, one with two stars but six with one star. The most commonly stated fact was that the unit will destroy the blades, not sharpen them and that it will actually cause more cuts than before it was used. Ouch!

While doing my research however I came across some information for a way to extend the life of a blade that was so simple I almost yelled “well, duh”! Dry off the blade after use. The blade of a razor will oxidize and rust when introduced to moisture for lengthy periods of time which causes pitting, the main offender for killing a blade. Simply drying it off with a towel by patting lightly or using a hair dryer is said to lengthen the life by 122%. But be cautious of using a hair dryer only if it is already in use as otherwise it is a definite waste of electricity. Nothing like a free solution to saving a little money and the environment as well as a few band-aids since there will be far fewer nicks or cuts to heal.

Amazon Takes On Part One of the Three R Mantra

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. We have all heard it over and over throughout our lives, the mantra for the Greenie in all of us. We all attempt it in our daily lives and as individuals we can make a great difference. But what about companies? Are larger corporations able to grab onto reduce, reuse, recycle and put it into practice? Well Amazon.com is proving that they are ready, willing and able to jump on the green band wagon by starting with the first r -- reduce.

My brother in law pointed me in the direction of a link on the Amazon homepage titled Avoid Wrap Rage. Their little blurb associated says “Get Amazon Frustration-Free™ Packaging”. Well that sounds fantastic to me, especially with the holidays and excessive shipping needs upcoming so I tore right into the link and began reading. What I discovered through my research is that Amazon is the Wizard that needs to come out from behind the curtain because they are not just green but turning into the Emerald City!

So what exactly is wrap rage? Well according to Amazon it is the flare of emotions we all get when attempting to open packages these days. For example, we go into a local electronics store to purchase a small technology item only to discover it is molded into an almost impenetrable plastic package. Ever tried to shuck a clam? Exactly. They do not call this packaging clamshell for nothing. And it does not stop there -- extra twist ties, security stickers, cardboard, plastic…the list of superfluous material on our packages goes on and on. Retail shops use this for anti-theft and it does help keep shrink low but what about in locations where there are no browsing shoppers who can touch the merchandise?

Back on November 3 Amazon decided that shoplifting in the online world was not really an issue but that over use of material was so they launched the Frustration Free™ Packaging effort with top manufacturers such as Fisher Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend. Their initiatives include: easy to open and recyclable cardboard boxes, reduction of: cardboard inserts, PVC, plastic coated steel wire twist ties, plastic fasteners and ABS molded styrene. So far there are nineteen products taking advantage of this initiative and they are gearing up to provide every product they stock in this manner. A bold plan to be sure but one that will lead the charge as other large companies follow suit.

To read the letter sent to consumers by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos describing the early effort please visit this link.

Digging even more deeply into the Greenness of Amazon it pleased me to discover they are contributing to environmental efforts worldwide. As a consumer, and one who shops on Amazon from time to time, it is encouraging to read that they:

☼ Reduce packaging waste by choosing the correct size box for each shipped item.
☼ Decrease transportation as more will then fit on less trucks.
☼ Use corrugated cardboard for shipping which contains 43-50% recycled material.
☼ Developed a program called Earth Kaizens to reduce energy in their facilities globally.
☼ Constructed their new Seattle Corporate HQ to meet LEED Certifications.
☼ Launched AmazonGreen providing Earth friendly alternatives for many products.

With such solid efforts toward a more eco-friendly existence I must bestow Amazon with a Four Green Leaf Rating! As a large corporation they are a solid model to follow as they lead the charge for all companies to adopt the Three R mantra and beyond. Hooray!