Say NO! to SM

I've been an SM girl for as long as I can remember. I love the convenience of shopping for almost everything in one place, and the fact that I can choose from a wide range of prices and quality. I love that BDO branches in the malls have weekend banking and long weekday hours. I love that both my BDO account and my SM purchases give me reward points, and that I can buy anything from their stores with them.

But you know what they say about former lovers being the worst enemies.

SM does not care that it razes trees and farm land for its malls. It doesn't care that people around them lose their livelihoods. It doesn't care that it puts its employees and residents at risk when they build on unstable and dangerous land.

I've decided that I do not want to continue financing the unconscionable and irresponsible activities of SM. Shopping in their stores stops right now, and I will be closing my BDO accounts and changing my credit card within the next few weeks.

The thing is, I'm just one person and what I'm going to do won't even be an ant bite for this behemoth. Will you boycott all SM companies with me?

This lists all the SM companies and affiliates I know. If I've missed any, please write the name of the company in the comments and I'll add it to the list.

• SM Malls
• SM Department Store
• SM Supermarket
• SM Hypermart
• SaveMore
• Makro
• Science Discovery Center
• SM Residences
• M Place
• Hamilo Coast – Pico de Loro
• Tagaytay Highlands
• Taal Vista Hotel
• SMX Convention Center
• Banco de Oro
• China Bank
• Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu
• Toy Kingdom
• Watsons Personal Care
• Baby Company
• Our Home
• Sports Central
• Ace Hardware
• Homeworld
• Kultura Pilipino
• Forever 21
• Uniqlo
• Prime Spots Inc.

Do I look like a matron?

I had quite an unusual experience during this morning's monthly mall trip. Suddenly, all the sales people were eager to assist me. I'm still not sure whether I like it or not, though, since I like being left alone when I'm choosing what to buy. The good thing was, they weren't trying to help me out with my choices, they were helping me out with my load.

First, the shopping basket. I didn't get one immediately because I wasn't sure where the first item on my list could be found, but I saw it immediately and got it. So I was carrying it to the counter where I knew the baskets would be, and I was met halfway there by a salesman who handed me one.

Second, the rug. I had chosen a small one to put under my husband's narrow bookshelf and had it rolled neatly in my shopping basket. When I got to the other end of the store, I saw more choices and found a pattern I liked better. So I unrolled the first rug and put it back on the display pile. Then the salesman there rolled up my new choice for me and placed it in my basket exactly how I had the first one in.

Third, how about a shopping cart instead? As I was on my way to the other end of the store for the last item on my list, yet another salesman walked up to me and offered me a shopping cart so I wouldn't have to carry a basket. (Uh, no thank you, I'm not buying that much.)

Fourth, yet another shopping cart. After the department store, I decided to buy some chicken pieces in the supermarket one level down. (Our neighborhood grocery usually only has whole chicken.) So I deposited my three shopping bags in the package counter and bought the chicken. And a few other items, so I ended up with another three bags. As I was walking to the package counter, another young man, a member of the customer service crew this time, came up to me with a shopping cart to put my packages in. So I thanked him, placed the bags inside, got my other packages and rolled the cart over to the taxi stand. And the nice cab driver came out of the car to help me place my packages on the back seat.

So the first thing I asked my husband when I got home was, "Do I look like a matrona?" My smart husband, knowing there's no safe answer to a question like that, instead asked me what brought the question on, so I told him about all those young men helping me out. He laughed, nuzzled me a bit, then said, "Maybe they think you look rich." Ha ha.

Anyway, I have three hypotheses about today's experience. One, that I am really beginning to show my age. Two, the service personnel are finally getting the training that they need. (That company has always been notorious for having awful service.) And three, if you want good service, don't just be in jeans and a t-shirt. That's my usual outfit when shopping, but for some reason, this morning I decided to wear skinny, red-orange cropped pants and a chocolate brown top with a beige neckline. Did that make a difference? Probably. But I suspect that today's experience was really caused by a combination of all three.

Urban Pac

Last Sunday afternoon, my husband decided to go shopping for a new backpack to replace the one that got stolen the day before. I'm no shopaholic, but I do enjoy purposeful shopping, so I tagged along. Good thing I did, because when he got to the Sumdex store, he couldn't decide which of these two he wanted:



The one on the left is a sporty-looking jacquard and suede backpack and the one on the right is a water-repellent nylon twill bag you can carry three ways. Here's what they look like at the back:



I was iffy about the curved straps of the bag on the left. So I asked him to put it on. And sure enough, it just wasn't him. The curved straps made it look like he was going on a trek—all it lacked was the strap you buckle around your waist. Didn't quite fit his dapper English professor look. The straight straps of the bag on the right, and it's more urban shape and material, fit him better. Plus, it can be used as a tote, a messenger bag (notice the ring to the left of the zipper—that's for the shoulder strap it comes with), and a backpack (the backpack's straps tuck into that zippered compartment at the back when you're not using them).

But the clincher was this:



Look at all those pockets! It's an OC's dream bag. Three large compartments, one of which is padded with a securing strap for a laptop, and the other two each with a gazillion pockets. Every item in it's own place. Plus there's a zippered compartment in front and if you're using it as a backpack, there's that extra compartment at the back where the straps would have been.

Needless to say, my husband's very happy with his Urban Pac (the name of the bag). Now if Sumdex can just make a smaller, more feminine version for me…

Seeing red

It took three years, but I finally found my perfect pair of red jeans. Slim-fit, low-rise, not-bright-red from Mango. Bought during the post-Christmas sale too, so I got it at 50% off. Love.

Greenwashing

I read this article from Reuters only a few days ago, and I'm sharing it because since we pretty much can't help being consumers, we might as well be smart ones.

Consumers: don't be fooled by green promises
Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:17pm EST
By Rebekah Kebede

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Trying to reduce your carbon footprint? Buying products marketed as environmentally friendly may not do much good—if any at all, according to a survey by environmental marketer TerraChoice released Monday.

A review of 1,018 products—from flooring to air fresheners to mouthwash—carrying 1,753 environment claims showed that the majority of so-called "green" products were labeled in ways that were vague or deliberately misleading.

The report said that of the products examined "all but one made claims that are either demonstrably false or that risk misleading intended audiences."

The Pennsylvania-based firm, which refers to misleading environmental marketing as "greenwashing," said it found "six sins of green marketing"—hidden trade-offs, no proof, vagueness, irrelevance, fibbing and the lesser of two evils.

Top of the list was hidden trade-offs, such as paper products marketing themselves as 10 percent recycled.

"The other 90 percent could be from an old-growth forest," said Scot Case, vice president of TerraChoice which does market green products under its own label, EcoLogo.

Another commonly committed "sin" of green-marketing, according to the report, is irrelevance. Labels such as "all natural," the report points out, are meaningless when one considers the fact that arsenic and mercury are also natural.

Similarly, many products have labels declaring them "CFC-free," even though CFCs, or chlorofluorocarbons, which contribute to ozone depletion, have been banned since 1978.

"What that claim basically says is: 'We're obeying the law.' Well, whoop-de-do," Case said of the CFC labels.

In some cases, the environmental advertising was false. For instance, a dishwasher detergent that advertised "100 percent recycled paper" packaging came in a plastic container.

In another example, several shampoos labeled "certified organic" had no proof of certification.

TerraChoice said a key reason for an increase in products marketed "green"—and "greenwashing"—is surging consumer interest in environmentally-friendly.

"I blame Al Gore," joked Case, but added the former U.S. vice president's Oscar-winning 2006 documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" is, in fact, one of the factors that spawned wide-spread consumer interest in eco-friendly goods.

"Marketers are naturally responding… They are desperately grabbing for any environmental claim they can slap on the label because they think it will help them sell more products," Case said.

For now, TerraChoice won't name "greenwashing" offenders.

"We are hesitant to believe anyone is doing it intentionally," said Case, whose company is pushing for industry standards for green marketing.

© Reuters 2007 All rights reserved

Gifts and gifts

Until two years ago, when I went on my monthly gift-buying expedition, I'd always buy two gifts per person on my list. One for her birthday, one for Christmas. That way, my Christmas shopping list is very, very short by the time November rolls around. I'd wrap the second gift in plastic and write the person's name with permanent marker and keep it on a shelf in my closet. It's a fantastic system for avoiding the December rush. The only caveat: you need lots of storage space for keeping the Christmas gifts for one entire year.

My monthly mall expedition

Because of my Saturday work, I've had to learn to be a little more efficient with my chores, errands and such to make sure I have time left for myself.

Take shopping for birthday gifts. The last couple of years, I've taken to going to the mall during the last Sunday of the month armed with a list of birthday celebrants for the next month. I'm in the door the minute it opens at 10am and I'm usually out by noon. I hate crowds, see, so this way I'm gone when the mob arrives. I also always choose a mall with a big department store so I can get most things I need and just line up at the checkout counter once. I usually sneak in stuff for the house (like shower curtains or table runners) or for myself (a new shade of lipstick, for example) during these trips too.

So, this being the last Sunday of the month, I was at the mall by 10:15am. This time, though, my list had much more than just department store stuff.

One. Get my credit card promo item.
You know where you get some free item if you spend a certain amount within so many months? That kind. They were out of the only item I could get so they just gave me a voucher, got all my contact numbers, and said they'd call when the new stock arrives.

Two. Get new eyeglasses.
I've come to the inescapable conclusion that I have to get double vision glasses. Having two different eyeglasses for distance and reading is not just mighty inconvenient, it's started giving me headaches. This took the longest time (an hour) because I also decided to change optical shops, so much time had to be spent on measuring. I wasn't happy with the service of my old one anymore.

Three. Get my watch strap adjusted.
The watch is a gift from a high school girlfriend who came back from Texas for a visit after more than ten years. I needed about five segments removed.

Four. Buy the department store stuff.
That included gifts for four people (November's a lean month for birthdays among my friends), two new pairs of office shoes for me (one black, one brown but I ended up buying three pairs because they had my size! and all for less than the price of one pair of Naturalizers!), scalp treatment hair conditioner and anti-frizz serum (because I'm on my last bottles), and a hair dryer (mine's so old, it's being held together by electric tape!).

I was out of the mall and in a cab by 1:30pm. Longer than usual because of the eyeglasses, but what they hey, right? 'Til next month…