FREE is still a GOOD thing ...

... and according to a nifty little STARBUCKS giveaway called GOOD, "good is a collaboration ... of individuals, businesses, and nonprofits pushing the world forward."



Have you seen this little newspaper-like rag at your friendly neighborhood Starbucks? Looks like this:

And speaking of GOOD, you might notice that I have a new nail gal -- her name is Sue, and my friend Debbie has been going to her for years -- now that Andi is retired (even if temporarily), I was on the hunt for a really good and affordable nail gal -- and wow, have I found her! She's fast, yet meticulous. I love her !!!

So back to GOOD from Starbucks. The edition pictured herein is No. 011, and it is dated November 20-26, 2008. From the cover ... "This is the Good Sheet. It's a weekly series breaking down an important issue to help make sense of the world around us. Exclusively available at Starbucks." { visit www.GOOD.is to see each of the Good Sheets }

No. 011 is entitled "Holiday Economy", and boy, does that hit close to home. For me, for us, for just about everyone in my universe. Of course, being Starbucks, they do say 'Tis the Season to be Spending', right on the cover !!!

What I learned from this Good Sheet, and I wonder ... did you know that:

30 - 35 MILLION real Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. every year ???

20 BILLION cards, letters, and packages are delivered by the US Postal Service between Thanksgiving and Christmas ??? {compared to 192 billion pieces del'd by USPS during the rest of the year}


$9.3 BILLION was spent on "BLING" {ie, jewelry store sales} during November & December of 2007 ???

$700 MILLION in candle sales were reported during the 2007 holiday season ??? { that's 350 million pounds of wax !!! }


and 67 MILLION turkeys are eaten at Thanksgiving and Christmas ??? {the turkey industry produced an estimated 269.8 million turkeys in 2007 ... so where did they all go !???}

Those are some ginormous numbers. I had no idea. Call me clueless!

I won't go into what the Good Sheet has to say about ... consumer debt and all that. It's depressing, and it's mind-boggling.

FREE is good, yes, it is.

-- D.