How recycling has changed me as a consumer

As a child of the late ‘70’s, recycling has been a part of my life for a while, but I will admit to not fully embracing it until the last five years or so. I could blame this on a number of factors, but, really, I was just being lazy. Part of my change was that recycling became easier and easier, to a point where to not recycle would require more of an effort. A big factor in this is having a great partner who makes it very easy for me!

So, I now find myself a regular recycler. My home and office are both all set up, and I even bring items home to make sure they get recycled, as opposed to throwing them out in a street bin.

This may sound naive, but it honestly never occurred to me how much recycling would change my purchasing decisions.

Here is a sample list of some of the questions that now go through my mind:

-can I recycle this easily at home or at the office?

-if I can’t do it at home, where can I recycle it? How far would this place be?

-is there a logical reason and purpose for the packaging?

-can I reuse or repurpose the item in some way?

-would somebody else want the item once I’m done with it?

If I can’t answer these questions easily and with some level of satisfaction, I don’t buy. Regardless of how shiny, appealing, needed, wanted, etc. it might be, if just doesn’t fit my life anymore. Really, it just doesn’t fit our world anymore.

Within our business, we try to make as little environmental impact as possible. Most of the work is online, so little product waste is created. We are mindful of the electricity we use and are sure to turn computers off when not in use. When we do have to ship things out, we try to reuse shipping packages. The biggest impact we are making right now is in travel, and we are doing what we can to limit our out-of-province filming.

It feels good knowing that I have come a long way, and that my money is going to companies who are on a similar journey!

Permaculture Illustration

Taimi Soil Projects recently contracted Azara Effects to create some pre-visualization images for an urban permaculture instillation. Using the photos TSP provided, we superimposed computer generated images of water collection tanks and raised beds. We then filled the raised beds with luscious home-grown vegetable plants (created using photos of raised beds on the TSP farm), and voila, a backyard food forest is established!

Check out TSP's website for more of their interesting projects at:
www.taimisoilprojects.ca

To see the rest of the TSP illustrations, head to the Azara Effect's Illustration section.

Happy 1st Birthday, Azara Effect Productions!

As some of you reading this know, the birth of AEP coincided with the birth of Scott’s son, John. Over the last year, many lessons about babies and businesses have been learned, and I thought it might be fun to share a few common ones:

1)      Appreciate every moment

Owning a small business means running back and forth between two ends of the busi-ness spectrum: from working 14 hour days to watching the tumbleweeds blow over the keyboard. We’ve learned that it’s important to be grateful for having so much work to do, and to be equally grateful for the days (or weeks) off.

2)      Always be two steps ahead

This is still a lesson in-progress, but we’re learning to try and plan for the future work alongside of doing the current work. Imagine building a plane while flying it – sometimes easier said than done!

3)      Get by with a little help from friends ...

... and family, co-workers, neighbours, strangers, cats, etc. Azara Effect Productions would not have made it to its first birthday without all of the help and support that we’ve received – thank you, so much.

Also similar to baby John, AEP is slowly learning how to get up and walk, but, I’m sure, we’ll be running* in no time!

*Smashing into walls

Mutual Admiration Society

My family and I were strolling through downtown on a Sunday afternoon, when a beautiful table inside of a store caught our eyes – so much so, that we backtracked to take a look. The store was subtle and filled with handcrafted and unique items made of wood – along with some unusual odds and ends, such as printing stamps and antique typewriters.

The salesclerk was present but not pushy, informed but not a know-it-all. It was a lovely browsing experience, and we remarked that it might be our Victoria version of a store we had loved on the mainland. We told the salesperson about our previous favorite store, and we described the mid-century furniture it had that we coveted so much.

“Well,” he replied, “you should check out the store across the street; they have great pieces of mid-century furniture, and … “ he went on describing the beautiful pieces the other store had – all while standing in front of two lovely mid-century pieces in his own place of work.

We soon browsed our way out of the store, and although we intended on crossing and checking out the other store, we decided to keep going down the street instead.

We will, without a doubt, go back to the first store. It is also quite likely that we will check out the store that the clerk spoke highly off. It is even more certain that we will tell others how much we appreciated the workmanship at the first store and the quality of the friendly, knowledgeable sales staff.

Promoting another company doesn’t drive customers away from your own business; I would argue that, in the long run, it brings more costumers to it. We are happy to be in the Mutual Admiration Society; especially when it’s for causes we support and companies/clients whose work ethics and values align with our own.

Thank you, Trade Roots, for reminding us of this! And, we can’t wait to come back and check your store out, The Fabulous Find!

Melissa

Get your splash on!

During my 42 weeks of pregnancy, I dreaded every doctor’s appointment, blood test, and ultrasound. My shoulders and hands would tense up before hearing or seeing every result, “Please don’t let there be anything wrong with my baby” was the phrase repeating in my head.

Fortunately, we delivered a healthy, strong baby boy. At almost 11 months old, he is still a happy, healthy little guy. We feel grateful every day for his health and ability, especially because we know not every parent is as fortunate.

We don’t know what will happen in the future, but we appreciate that there are dedicated and inspiring groups in Canada providing amazing opportunities and experiences which enhance the quality of life, self-esteem, and self-determination of Canadians with disabilities.

One of every seven Canadians report having a disability. Easter Seals is Canada’s largest local provider of programs, services, issues-leadership and development for the disability community, and they are dedicated to helping more than 100,000 Canadians with disabilities participate fully in society.

Azara Effect Productions is so honored to be a part of their Splash of Colour event on Sunday, August 25, and we can’t wait to film all of the excited and colourful participants! If you haven’t signed up for this year’s event, it’s never too late to donate, or to start thinking about participating in 2014!

http://www.splashofcolor.ca/

What came first: the chicken or the egg salad?

Most days, I have delicious leftovers for lunch at work. Some days, though, we eat too much the night before, and I’m left to my own devices for a midday meal. I usually end up at the same café that’s about a five minute walk from my office because of their clean, bright atmosphere, friendly staff, and healthy food choices, offered at a reasonable price. It’s usually a win-win type of lunch situation.

I went yesterday to have a little bite of something and read the local music rag while having a little sit in the sunshine. Feeling like having a salad, I looked at the options: Greek, Curried Chicken Orzo, and Thai noodle. Although I would normally have the Thai, I felt like doing something different and chose the curried chicken.

I grabbed the paper, found a table outside, and prepared to enjoy my curried chicken orzo salad. I was surprised, however, to find that the salad should have been labelled: Curry Egg Orzo salad (with Too Much Mayo and Red Onion, but that’s a different story). As best as I could, I picked out the egg (and red onion) and ate the salad, because I was hungry and because I suppose egg is chicken? The other main element, orzo, was there, and the salad did have a bit of a curry taste, so I received about 60% of what I thought I was going to when I chose and purchased the salad.

But, still, I was left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth (so many red onions). I will probably still go back, but I’ll never order that salad again. I will probably still recommend the café to my co-workers, but I’ll likely tell them the story.

The lesson for business? Make sure you and your client both share the same clear vision of what the end product or result will be. You might think chicken and egg are the same thing, but the client might not, and that might affect their decision to use or refer your business in the future.

And, take it easy on the red onion.

Melissa