When you place an order with Dear Lil’ Devas online, you’re given the option of “with hangtag”, or “without hangtag”. A hangtag is the printed piece of paper that you remove from your purchase once you’ve got it home from the store; and usually throw away.

This “with” or “without” option has been in effect since February, 2009. The response? – In 2010, 98% of your online orders were mailed without a hangtag! All of the information about your purchase is right here on our website (care info is on the label sewn onto the  garment itself), and unless the item is being given as a gift, there really is no need for the extra packaging.

However, when DLD items go out to be sold in retail boutiques and yoga studios, hangtags are included.

Early this spring it was time to make the hangtags for Dear Lil’ Devas bamboo short-sleeved t-shirts (we had an order from the new “p’lovers The Environmental Store” in Kingston, Ontario). The past winter had been so long, and thinking of t-shirts brought to mind the hot, humid summer – my favourite season, humidity and all!!

Looking up photos of summers gone by couldn’t be resisted, so, rather than making the hangtags, there I was having a trip down memory lane, and thinking, “Oh I just wish I could share these beautiful pictures with our customers.” But, the pictures weren’t relevant to Dear Lil’ Devas, other than that they make me really happy!

Satiated, I went back to the hangtags. Usually, we put a picture of the item on it’s hangtag, but this time, I wasn’t excited about the pictures that we had of the tee-shirts – (it’s a different story now after getting some wonderful photos of the tees on Andrew at the climbing gym), but at the time, I just had generic, albeit accurate pics of the tees, BORING!

But wait… why a picture of the tee-shirt on the hangtag when whoever is looking at the tee in the store has it physically right in front of them? If you’re in the store, you can feel the luxuriously soft bamboo fabric, and see the lovely cut (not your generic computer-generated pattern by the way; each pattern size and style was hand-drafted to be as intuitive a fit as possible). Really… why not a picture that evokes memories of that hot, beautiful time of year when a cool, moisture-wicking bamboo t-shirt becomes a necessity!? … Summer!

Below are the hangtags that go along with the t-shirts. I am so pleased with them, that just this once, I encourage you to choose the option “with hangtag”! They are folded (pic on front, writing on back) and on the inside there is no text or pictures at all, just To/ and From/ fields in case you’re going to give the t-shirt as a gift (can I tell you that men LOVE these shirts…).

Hello, Rosie here, this is my very first blog article! I’ve often wished to be able to explain things that are on dearlildevas.com in greater detail for people who are interested, and hear your thoughts too, so hopefully, this is the beginning of some great discussions!

About a week ago, we received the following words from Gail:

I loved your packaging, by the way! My husband and I both were admiring your clever environmental solution! A Kashi Go Lean box turned inside out! I’ll share that idea with friends.

Thank you for the lovely and unique yoga clothes, Rosie.

The same day that I received that note from Gail, my daughter came home from school talking about how her class needs remotes for their Smart Board. She was frustrated about it, so we started to discuss ways that her class could raise money using something that many households could potentially donate for reuse.

Of course, then it dawned on me that WE need boxes at Dear Lil’ Devas, so I suggested to her that the kids in her class could bring in their empty cereal boxes and be paid $1.00 for each box with 100% of the profit going towards the remotes.

I wrote back to Gail, to let her know about the idea for fundraising that her positive feedback had spurred:

Those cereal boxes that you and your husband commented on are the PERFECT size for sending orders that have multiple items. However, none of us at DLD really buys too much packaged cereal, but whenever we can get our hands on one of those boxes, we always save them for shipping. I’ve wondered in the past how customers feel about getting their orders in these boxes, as it may seem a bit unprofessional – but we figure as long as they’re clean, and extending the use of the box before it hits the recycling bin is really cool!

Gail wrote back saying that she would like to donate $30.00 to the class to kick off the fundraiser!!!

Operating on a small scale allows Dear Lil’ Devas to easily put into effect ideas like this. I really feel that my cup flows over with happiness. Every action that we take, even (or especially) on a micro level has the potential to impact the people around us in a positive way.

We wish everyone a tremendous holiday season – please know; the heartfelt good vibes generated at Dear Lil’ Devas are reverberating extra loudly this year with the help of the kids in my daughter’s class!!!

Added June 16, 2011

I have an update about our cereal boxes! Since the holiday season 2010, our cereal box collection has been ongoing… friends and neighbours save them for us, and the kids in my daughter’s class did another drive this spring to collect them! We have a rubber stamp now that we stamp the boxes with… its says:

Thanks to ____________

This box has been rescued

from the blue bin for reuse!!!

So, don’t be surprised when your next order arrives in a turned-inside out cereal box, and check the stamp to see who the kindly soul that went to the trouble to save it for us was!