Wednesday Wag Out! - Special Earth Week Edition

Mom received a tweet this morning about a cool watch that she knew she had to have. She's been in the market for new watch for a while now because her old school beach watch is on its last leg. She's sad to see the old watch go but excited about her new watch.

I know it's hard to believe that Mom hadn't heard about Sprout until this morning but it's true. She has me doing research all day long, every day but because I've never come across Sprout, she's been in the dark. Until today. So instead of spending the morning with me, she ran out to the store to get the scoop on Sprout.

According to the tweet, Sprout could be purchased at Nordstrom. Mom wasn't happy about this because the closest Nordstrom isn't really close. Instead of going to Nordstrom, Mom decided to check the Sprout website to see if they were sold somewhere closer to home. As it turns out, they are but I bet you'll never guess where. Give up? Sears!

It didn't take Mom long to find the Sprout display in the watch department. The entire cardboard display is made from 100% recycled paper. Very cool.

Check out these watches. Wow! So many choices for Mom and if you know her, you know how she can't make decisions. It takes her forever to pick anything out unless it jumps out at her. These watches were no different. These are the bigger faced watches, aka the men's watches. Mom's not into big watches, so she turned the display to find the women's watches.

Same colors, smaller faces. Maybe even too small. Mom picked 4 colors she liked and then tried them on. After she narrowed her selection down to 3, she decided that the watch face was way too small because she couldn't read the numbers. Eventually, she selected one of the men's watches and rushed home to show it to me.

This is the bottom of the watch box. Can you read what it says? It says "In an effort to reduce paper waste we offer our warranty and instructions on our website." Why can't more companies do this? Most consumers don't read this information and just toss it (hopefully) in their recycle bins. I know there are people who don't have computers but just imagine how many trees we could save if paper warranty and instructions were eliminated from packaging? I'm not suggesting this for all products but at least for products that are self explanatory and that don't require pages and pages of instructions, like this watch. What if companies listed a phone number that consumers could call to have warranty information mailed to them? There must be a better way and I applaud Sprout for taking this step to reduce waste and conserve resources. Hopefully other companies will follow suit.

The back of the watch box tells you all about the materials used to make it. It's definitely cutting edge greenness. The dial is made from bamboo, while the case and buckle are made from a corn resin that's biodegradeable. The strap is made from organic cotton and the battery is mercury free. It's hard to read the bottom of the box but it has instructions on how to turn the box into a grass garden (grass included). I wonder when we're going to do that.

Ah, the ingredient label. My favorite thing for Mom to read to me. This is so cool! There's even a feel good experience at the bottom of the label that equals 100%. The big watch is constructed from 86% sustainable materials while the small watch is constructed from 80%. The box itself is made from 100% recycled content with 80% of it being post-consumer. I couldn't find any information on the ink type, but I'm hoping it's soy based.

I mentioned the grass garden and here are the seeds. I'm a little upset with this packaging because it's plastic. You can read the instructions for yourself but I really want to know what I'm suppose to do with this plastic packaging when the grass expires. Any ideas? I'll be emailing Sprout for ideas too.

Yes, it's made in China. I know what you're thinking - carbon footprint. I said the same thing and got ignored. What gives? Question asked, no answer given. Still waiting. Are there any watches made in the good old U.S.A.?

So here's the cool watch. It's hard to see in the picture but it's green in color with a lighter green bezel. And the bamboo dial is really cool looking. I'm not sure how the organic cotton band is going to hold up with all the sweating Mom does but we'll soon find out.

Nicely labled on the back, don't you think? It looks like a kid's watch and kind of reminds Mom of a Swatch watch. Swatch was all the rage back in the 80s or so I've heard.

A close-up view shows that this eco-friendly timepiece is biodegradable. So it's made from sustainable materials and it will biodegrade. What more could you ask for?

But who is Sprout? They are made by E. Gluck Corporation, a watchmaker that's been in business for over 50 years. According to their website, their mission is to make the most eco-friendly watch they possibly can. It took two years of research and development to come up with Sprout and I think it was totally worth it. They do not claim to be the greenest company around but they are environmentally aware and seek ways to tread lighter on the earth. Of course they do all the things Puglet does in his Earth Day video but as a company they are making even bigger changes such as converting to recyclable and recycled materials for packaging, reducing the size of their packing cartons, and using more efficient transportation methods. They are proving that even a watch company can go green, not just by making a green watch but by changing their business practices.

Today isn't Mom's birthday yet she bought herself a gift. It's not my birthday either but I didn't get a gift. Since the watch is for Mom, maybe the grass garden is for me. I think that's the least Mom could give me given the time she spent away this morning. All in an attempt to get the greenest watch on the eve of Earth Day. She's just keeping it green.