#BuildaBetterEden - Community Planning: 07.07.2011

Contributor: Gary Gary
Quote:
Originally posted by Wondermom
basic school supplies do help though, many teachers end up using their own paycheck to purchase supplies for low income kids in their classes

so you could pick up a back to school list at most stores that are selling school supplies and buy ... more
I really really liked this idea. Looking back, especially at my elementary school, there were some amazing teachers who did a lot of things that I now suspect came our of their own pockets. I would be great help out in this way!!!!!
07/07/2011
Contributor: Kindred Kindred
Quote:
Originally posted by ~LaUr3n~
I totally agree. I find it unnecessary and found the previous system to work very well. It was less complicated but worked just fine in my opinion.
I don't think the concept of the new system is bad. It's just the application is off. The formula is way too simple.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Wondermom Wondermom
Quote:
Originally posted by Jul!a
That was what I was going to try to do.
me to you can also drop in and ask what fundraising or donations they need, we have to take my son to a school for his speech therapy and they had 3 boxes at the office, box tops, soup can labels and books for the library. obviously its going to be different for other schools but nearly every school takes box tops
07/07/2011
Contributor: Ghost Ghost
Quote:
Originally posted by Gary
I will take your word for it. If the system is not sustainable, then it needs be to improved.
It depends on your definition of sustainable. Think of the east coast: pretty much the entire east coast outside West Virginia was at one time clear cut, and a few hundred years later, is reforested. HOWEVER, the forests that appear today may not have the same plant community that existed before, and this may or may not be a problem for other communities that depends on the forests.

When it comes to clear cutting and replanting, the edge effect from clear cut fields is hugely destructive in and of itself, by exposing the inner forest to outside forces. When trees are replanted, they are again not representative of the community that existed before, and the consequences of that are largely unknown.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
I actually like the idea of hilighting in general, for the sake of casual browsers. But a lot of suggestions in MeliPixie's thread could be taken into account.

Especially the weighted average, though---Gary, is there a person in charge of coding that part of the site that we could pass these suggestions on to?
07/07/2011
Contributor: ~LaUr3n~ ~LaUr3n~
Quote:
Originally posted by Kindred
I don't think the concept of the new system is bad. It's just the application is off. The formula is way too simple.
I just don't think we even need those categories. You can simply look down the line of reviews in order of usefulness (old system). The first 5 star you come to is the best favorable and the first 1 or 2 star you come to is the the most useful unfavorable review. I don't need a computer to do that work for me.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
Quote:
Originally posted by ~LaUr3n~
I totally agree. I find it unnecessary and found the previous system to work very well. It was less complicated but worked just fine in my opinion.
I do like the way you can easily access the best-rated positive and the best-rated negative reviews. Each will have important information the other likely doesn't have. The way the ratings are calculated doesn't work for me (and others, obviously), though.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Redboxbaby Redboxbaby
Quote:
Originally posted by ToyTimeTim
The hard part is every district is different. Back in Colorado they needed totally different supplies than they do UP here. For instance, the teachers here do not need paper, pencils and crayons, they need glue and construction paper more.
I ... more
The way we do it here is to let the school itself decide what it needs and either purchase those items or gift the $ in terms of a giftcard to say Walmart or whereever. Last time we did a fundraiser we raised $1000 and divided it up giving each teacher their own giftcards to purchase what they needed for their classroom.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Kindred Kindred
Quote:
Originally posted by ~LaUr3n~
I just don't think we even need those categories. You can simply look down the line of reviews in order of usefulness (old system). The first 5 star you come to is the best favorable and the first 1 or 2 star you come to is the the most useful ... more
But I don;t think casual shoppers would know that. We know that only because we have been here awhile. I think the new format is designed to cater to the new/casual shopper.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
Quote:
Originally posted by ~LaUr3n~
I just don't think we even need those categories. You can simply look down the line of reviews in order of usefulness (old system). The first 5 star you come to is the best favorable and the first 1 or 2 star you come to is the the most useful ... more
And here I thought the old-style listing was random...
07/07/2011
Contributor: ~LaUr3n~ ~LaUr3n~
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
I do like the way you can easily access the best-rated positive and the best-rated negative reviews. Each will have important information the other likely doesn't have. The way the ratings are calculated doesn't work for me (and others, ... more
Read my comment directly above
07/07/2011
Contributor: Wondermom Wondermom
with the schools I know a lot in my area in the parking lot have big recycling bins that earn them money, so I make sure to recycle things in them, the main ones near me are paper but I have seen cans and glass bottle ones as well.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
And here I thought the old-style listing was random...
Nope, the old style was listed by how useful the review was rated. If you're reading a review with other reviews on the same product, the left side of the page still lists reviews in order of usefulness
07/07/2011
Contributor: ~LaUr3n~ ~LaUr3n~
Quote:
Originally posted by Kindred
But I don;t think casual shoppers would know that. We know that only because we have been here awhile. I think the new format is designed to cater to the new/casual shopper.
All we would have to do is add a text that says, in order of usefulness...
07/07/2011
Contributor: Gary Gary
Quote:
Originally posted by Redboxbaby
The way we do it here is to let the school itself decide what it needs and either purchase those items or gift the $ in terms of a giftcard to say Walmart or whereever. Last time we did a fundraiser we raised $1000 and divided it up giving each ... more
That is an interesting approach. I know a lot of folks say Walmart is the Devil, but they are everywhere, and they usually dramatically cheaper than other stores.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Wondermom Wondermom
I also don't know if any of you are on paperbackswap, but they have a school donation program link
07/07/2011
Contributor: Vaccinium Vaccinium
Quote:
Originally posted by Ghost
It depends on your definition of sustainable. Think of the east coast: pretty much the entire east coast outside West Virginia was at one time clear cut, and a few hundred years later, is reforested. HOWEVER, the forests that appear today may not ... more
WRT to your first paragraph, chestnut blight played a bigger role than logging. It's impossible to find a mature American Chestnut tree in the eastern U.S. now, whereas they used to be a dominant tree in the forests.

As for your second paragraph, seeing someone know what an "edge effect" is gave me shivers. Clearcutting also makes it so there is very little large woody debris on the forest floor (well, clearcut floor) and eliminates snags. Both of these provide important habitat and breeding space that simply aren't present for hundreds of years after a forest is clearcut.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Kindred Kindred
Quote:
Originally posted by ~LaUr3n~
All we would have to do is add a text that says, in order of usefulness...
I realize, but I assume this type of presentation is valued by new customers since so many websites utilize it. I was totally fine with the old way, but I don't think the new way is all that different. We have to consider that EF is doing this to hopefully make shopping/deciding easier for the new customers.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Redboxbaby Redboxbaby
Quote:
Originally posted by Gary
That is an interesting approach. I know a lot of folks say Walmart is the Devil, but they are everywhere, and they usually dramatically cheaper than other stores.
Most districts (here anyway and where I worked in VA and NH) have Walmart as an approved vendor already for PO's. So it might be a convenience to teachers who might already be shopping that way.
07/07/2011
Contributor: ~LaUr3n~ ~LaUr3n~
Quote:
Originally posted by Kindred
I realize, but I assume this type of presentation is valued by new customers since so many websites utilize it. I was totally fine with the old way, but I don't think the new way is all that different. We have to consider that EF is doing this ... more
I've actually never seen this format. I just see it as more clicking to get to what I want. Not fun. I give new users more credit I guess. I wouldn't hate it so much if it still showed the list on the same page.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Petite Valentine Petite Valentine
Quote:
Originally posted by Gary
That is an interesting approach. I know a lot of folks say Walmart is the Devil, but they are everywhere, and they usually dramatically cheaper than other stores.
Rather than typing a lengthy reply...

link
07/07/2011
Contributor: Ghost Ghost
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
WRT to your first paragraph, chestnut blight played a bigger role than logging. It's impossible to find a mature American Chestnut tree in the eastern U.S. now, whereas they used to be a dominant tree in the forests.

As for your second ... more
Do people tend not to know what an "edge effect" is? >_>
07/07/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by ~LaUr3n~
I've actually never seen this format. I just see it as more clicking to get to what I want. Not fun. I give new users more credit I guess. I wouldn't hate it so much if it still showed the list on the same page.
It's actually been on Amazon for a while.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Wondermom Wondermom
Quote:
Originally posted by Petite Valentine
Rather than typing a lengthy reply...

link
that may be true, but it is one of the cheapest places for teachers to source school supplies
07/07/2011
Contributor: ToyTimeTim ToyTimeTim
I have not much to say about the new pages, I think I preferred the old pages more but that could be cuz I was more use to them. Plus I rarely read reviews on toys I am thinking of buying, I know by know what I want in a toy.

It would be interesting to hear from a non-contributor to get their take on them.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Ivy Wilde Ivy Wilde
Quote:
Originally posted by Kindred
I realize, but I assume this type of presentation is valued by new customers since so many websites utilize it. I was totally fine with the old way, but I don't think the new way is all that different. We have to consider that EF is doing this ... more
Giving the whole website a complete overhaul would make things easier for new customers. I know that's a huge job, but really, as a relatively new customer, I find the problems that I have navigating the website to be a bigger issue than finding a good review.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Gary Gary
Quote:
Originally posted by Vaccinium
WRT to your first paragraph, chestnut blight played a bigger role than logging. It's impossible to find a mature American Chestnut tree in the eastern U.S. now, whereas they used to be a dominant tree in the forests.

As for your second ... more
Oh I totally see what you are saying here. I never considered that, but I also do not claim to be well versed on this topic. I will say, it is not going to stop, so hopefully the can improve the methods to minimize the damage.
07/07/2011
Contributor: ~LaUr3n~ ~LaUr3n~
Quote:
Originally posted by Jul!a
It's actually been on Amazon for a while.
I hate Amazon and don't use it. Ebay.
07/07/2011
Contributor: Redboxbaby Redboxbaby
Quote:
Originally posted by ~LaUr3n~
I've actually never seen this format. I just see it as more clicking to get to what I want. Not fun. I give new users more credit I guess. I wouldn't hate it so much if it still showed the list on the same page.
Agreed. My mother was looking at a toy I mentioned to her and she was specifically looking for your review on it, but insisted there were only 2 reviews. I had to walk her through and actually send her a screenshot...she is not the most computer literate.
07/07/2011
Contributor: ~LaUr3n~ ~LaUr3n~
Quote:
Originally posted by ToyTimeTim
I have not much to say about the new pages, I think I preferred the old pages more but that could be cuz I was more use to them. Plus I rarely read reviews on toys I am thinking of buying, I know by know what I want in a toy.

It would be ... more
I'm actually the same way. I've used enough toys to know if it's going to be good or not...for the most part anyways lol.
07/07/2011