Earth Day & Arbor Day...It's All Green

As you know, April 22nd was Earth Day, a day designated to promote awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment.  And today, April 29th, is Arbor Day, a day to encourage tree planting and care.  It seems everywhere you turn these days it's all about being green.  And we got to thinking, what are we doing at Serendipity Cards & Gifts to do our part to make Earth a greener place?

Are we using recycled materials?  Yes, one of the most prominent ways we are using recycled materials is we purchase all of our shopping bags from Nashville Wraps.  Nashville Wraps is the leader in eco-friendly gift, retail and gourmet food packaging.  The particular bags we use, our handle shopping bags, are made of 50% recycled paper including 10% post consumer recycled papers.  The logo printed on them is printed using water based inks and the bags are 100% made in USA.  Shop with confidence at Serendipity knowing when you go home your items are secured in eco-friendly materials.

Are the products we sell made in the USA?  While we would prefer that 100% of our products were made in the USA this is not feasible at this time.  However, when making purchasing decisions at Serendipity management is very conscientious of this issue and bring in as many made in the USA products as possible.  Some of the made in the USA products are actually their best selling lines including Yankee, Swan Creek and Beanpod candles.  You might also be surprised to find out that over 75% of the sports collectibles are from Wincraft and made in the USA.  Danielson Designs is another great product that is not only made in the USA but is also made using recycled material and printed using water based inks.  All the Ann Clark cookies cutters are also made in the USA.  In addition to that soaps from Backyard Soaps and Skows Berry Farm, as well as, Gilbert Chocolates are made in Michigan.  By offering products made in the USA we are able to reduce our carbon footprint by decreasing fuel and other energy usage.

What other ways are we being environmentally conscientious? 

• We use direct thermal printers to print customer receipts and print shipping labels.  Direct thermal printers do not use ink to print therefore eliminating the use of ink and the recycling or disposal of ink cartridges.
• We recycle all packing materials our items arrive in and reuse them in packages we ship out.
• The boxes that we use to ship items are from Uline and made 100% in the USA.
• We use United States Postal Service for 95% of our outgoing packages as they have the widest logistical network and already travel to the destinations we ship to.
• Our floor shopping area is almost entirely lit by fluorescent bulbs.  Fluorescent bulbs are four to six times more efficient than incandescent bulbs.  
• We use email communication and social media sites to notify customers of sales, promotions, special events and other store news, as much as possible.
• Our HVAC units are programmed to follow a heating and cooling schedule maximizing the efficiency of the units and reducing drastic fluctuations in temperature.

These are just a few ways we are trying to do our part to make the Earth a greener place.  We are all always looking for ways to do things better and more efficiently at Serendipity while being eco-aware too.  Next year on Earth Day we hope to have an entirely new list of ways we are trying to do our part.  In the meantime, come in the store today, April 29th, 2011 and receive a free Beanpod Earthly Embrace sampler candle in honor of Earth Day & Arbor Day.

Have a question?  Contact us at:

Serendipity Cards & Gifts
1416 S. Main St., Ste 500
Adrian, MI 49221
517.263.6979
info@serendipitycardsandgifts.com
http://www.serendipitycardsandgifts.com/
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