Should We Hold Saints Divine Ransom? And Do Materials of Statues Affect Our Faith?.

St Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church
EcoJoe received his first public negative review 2 days ago via Amazon.

Here is what John said:

This will not work,

December 29, 2009
By John

This goes against the tradition. What you are supposed to do is bury the saint in question (yes, this method works for other saints as well) upside down in the ground and, if your request is granted, you dig him up and put him on your shrine or altar. However, if your request is not granted, you keep him there until it is. It’s a form of “divine ransom”, so to speak.
A bio-degradable statue goes against the tradition and is utterly useless. I suggest you spend your money on a plaster statue and holy card with a novena rather than this kit.

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I personally just found that so fascinating.

your money or your wife
Photo by twenty_questions
Do people really feel that they should “divine ransom” a saint? To Me, divine ransom means: “Hey you saint. I need to get my house sold, and if you don’t do it, you get to stay in the ground with worms and rotting plants. But hey, if you did sell my house to my liking, then you get to sit on a pretty shrine I made especially for you at home.” Really? Is it really how we should worship a divine being who foster fathered Jesus while he was on earth?

Our goal with this product is really to raise awareness about plastic usage and in the long run, decrease the amount of plastic statues being buried in the ground. Do you think St Joseph, a carpenter on earth, someone who worked with natural materials all day long and taught Jesus carpentry, would want to do harm to earth and our eco-systems? I would like to think not.

Jesus learning from St Joseph
Photo by Lawrence OP
In additions, how would burying an eco-friendly statue becomes utterly useless? When they created tokens of worships centuries back, were there plastic readily available for mass production? No, people made statues out of natural materials and metal. So how, a St Joseph statue made out of clay, become utterly useless?

I feel that statues are just tokens of appreciation and a vehicle for you to express your faith to the divine beings that you are praying to. So why would an eco-friendly St Joseph statue become such an issue? If it only works because we pray to a certain kind of statues made from a certain kind of material, I suppose we should pray to statues made from gold and diamonds to show our appreciation?

Just my two cents here. I would love to hear your thoughts!

Cheers,

Cindy/ Founder & GM @ EcoJoe

Photo Credits (first photo): Photo by Lawrence OP

Winners to our EcoJoe T Shirt Commenting Contest!.

* 2/22/2010 Update: The fabulous tees are now here, just in time to celebrate Saint Joseph’s birthday on March 19th! Get your very own limited edition organic tees here.

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Hey everyone

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU again for all the 70+ comments on our EcoJoe T Shirt designs! We really appreciate you. It’s fans like you that help small boot-strap companies like EcoJoe grow~ We have also seen increases in sales on Amazon. So THANK YOU for telling all your friends about us. We really cannot do it without you.

So without further ado, here are the 5 lucky winners: (in additions to prizes listed, they also get to pick an EcoJoe T shirt once it’s printed)

  1. Julie Tucker Legrand — Trader Joe’s $25 Gift Certificate
  2. Robin Fenchel — 3 eco-friendly grocery bags in various styles
  3. Brian Swichkow — 2 EcoJoe, 1 English version, 1 Canada (with French) version
  4. Sarah Cooper — Coffee thermal cup, notebook and iphone cover from Be Good to People

    Swag from Be Good To People www.BeGoodToPeople.com

    Swag from Be Good To People www.BeGoodToPeople.com

  5. Christina Galletti Howard — a premium EcoJoe gift basket

    EcoJoe Premium Gift Basket. Coming Soon 2010!

    EcoJoe Premium Gift Basket. Coming Soon 2010! This particular basket is a great gift to home sellers.*

*This kit includes a shovel to bury your EcoJoe in, an EcoJoe for good karma, a hand sanitizer to clean yourself after burying EcoJoe, a pack of letterpress “We are moving” notecards for your seller to announce their new address, a pack of letterpress “Thank you” cards, and a gift certificate for an-hour Design Consultation with Staged4more. That can be used toward home selling or home decorating consults. We can do either virtual staging or virtual consulting.

Again, thanks to everyone who has participated!

PS. We want to give a special shout out to Be Good to People. Kris at Be Good to People (and Say No More Promotions) were instrumental in launching EcoJoe. We want to thank Kris and team for their continuous support and donating some great goodies for the EcoJoe contest! We have used Say No More quite a few time ourselves for our promotional stuff. They all turned out fabulous and the team is super easy to work with. We highly recommend them!

OH PPS… How can we forget to announce which T shirts to print? We will be printing #1, 2, 7, 8. As to which colors?? You will have to wait and see! :)

Photo credit: kktp_

12.15.2009 The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur Blog: 140 Last Minute Client Gifts.

Yes, you read it right. The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur Blog put us in their 140 Last Minute Client Gifts list. Here are the list. You can also read the original post 140 Last Minute Client Gifts on Toilet Paper Entrepreneur Blog here.

ps. We are #30!

Panicked over what last minute gift to get your client? From something you can make yourself to big ticket gifts and everything in between, you’ll find it here… Den ganzen Beitrag lesen »

12.14.2009 Green Baby Guide: The Four Wackiest Green Gifts.

Although we hardly qualify for practical baby gifts (but hey, babies do love us), we are super honored and thrilled to be listed as Green Baby Guide’s 4 Wackiest Green Gifts. Not to mention EcoJoe always loves to give any already stress out new parents some much needed relieves!

Here is what Green Baby Guide said about us. To see the original article, click here for Green Baby Guide: The Four Wackiest Green Gifts.

Searching for a somewhat bizarre gift for your eccentric uncle or this year’s white elephant gift exchange?  The following four are somewhat functional but mostly just weird presents for your holiday list.

ecojoe-packagingIf someone you know is struggling to sell a house this holiday season, they may need Ecojoe—the Original Eco-Friendly St. Joseph Statue Home Selling Kit.  Who the heck is St. Joseph? He’s the patron saint of real estate.  For years he’s been buried in the yards of those hoping to find an interested buyer.  Does anyone really need an eco-friendly, biodegradable statue of a saint?  Probably not, but it is a fun gag gift that may bring stressed out homeowners a laugh.

The I Am Not a Paper Cup mug is wonderfully deceptive.  Crafted from a ceramic mug and a silicone lid, it looks identical to a paper cup but is far eco-friendlier.

We’re sure you’ve been asking yourself, “How can I spoil my feline friend with eco-friendly products?” The Green Organic Eco Friendly Cat Bundle of Products is a helpful kitty gift basket that includes citrus magic litter box odor eliminator and bath wipes—among other essential cat grooming items!Recycled Paper Stationary

Our favorite eco-friendly gift is the Elephant Poo Poo Paper Notebox.  Yes, this thick, high quality note paper is made from elephant dung. Recycling the feces of large mammals has never been such fun!

Have you come across any fun eco-friendly products lately?  We’d love to hear about your finds!