I have been a subscriber for 30 years and I cancelled my subscription yesterday. Since Adams…read morepublishing bought the newspaper it has gone downhill. I don't think I have had a week where I got all of my papers delivered on time in 5+ years. I have called customer service many times and I was told it is the post office fault. A newspaper that is 3-5 days old is no use to me and they will not give me a refund when I do not get my paper.

Most of the paper is national news (which I can get for free online) with very little local. It…read moreused to have great photojournalism and in-depth stories. But was bought out by APG and since then...horrible. Tried twice to place both a classified ad and display ad; no luck, waited on the phone for over half an hour (this is money, ppl!) Just now tried to cancel subscription for the 2nd time and again, half-hour waits, no exaggeration. My sister tried another time to call in a story scoop; no one got back to her. APG is in it for the money, not true journalism. If I had the $ I'd start my own paper, bc BZN deserves better. Yes, it costs $ to do, but I'd at least make sure when ppl wanting to place ads (revenue!) someone would answer the dang phone.

Ideal Bite is one of the (now ubiquitous) companies that tries to combine hipness with social…read moreresponsibility. These two notions being naturally opposed to each other (fashion having nothing whatsoever to do with sustainability), it's a tough balance to strike, and Ideal Bite gives it a decent try before failing. I don't mind this so much. Trying is pretty important in life, especially when it comes to finding one's own ethic and set of ideals. But if you're going to fail, err on the side of being over-earnest or idealistic; don't decide that you're willing to change your life and then decide that that's too hard. What the heck am I talking about? Well, Ideal Bite's weekly e-letter provides its readers with tips for supposedly making their lives more sustainable. This is an OK idea, one that many other companies and nonprofits have copied. But the problem with Ideal Bite is that it confuses trying to live a better life with actually doing so. See, if the choices you're making are no better or actually worse than the ones you were making before, it doesn't really matter that you had your heart in the right place. Especially when it comes to the environment, Mother Nature doesn't care that you like animals or oppose global warming; you need to actually make choices that prove this. Ideal Bite isn't a complete sham, but when I disagreed with some of their suggestions (and the products they encouraged readers to buy), I got responses that proved to me that the people behind this organization aren't fully committed to walking the walk. Here's a hint: We're not going to spend our way out of our problems. Buying a different water bottle doesn't make you an environmentalist; neither does recycling or driving a Prius. I'm not saying you shouldn't be aware of the chemicals in things you use or that you shouldn't recycle or that the kind of car you drive isn't important, but it's too easy to feel good about ourselves and get complacent. Part of the problem is consumer culture. Sometimes, the best way to do something is to do nothing. As in not buy something.

Ideal Bite is a great newsletter type thing. They've got all sorts of tips about ways you can…read morechange little things you do everyday to help save the environment. Now I know it's "fashionable" to be green, but it can also be difficult. This newsletter covers everything from different types of counter tops to buy when building new house, to green baby gifts, and changing light bulbs, as well as places to buy conflict-free diamonds, and shoes that are a bit more eco-friendly. I really love it.