Heart Truffle Box

So, the next time you’re walking down the candy aisle, as we’ve finally come to focus on, take a close look at all the candies in plastic and those in cardboard. It’s really quite crazy how much plastic we actually use, especially in that one aisle alone! Imagine how much other plastic packaging you’d find in every other aisle of the store, though.

Candy boxes are, by far, much more useful overall than bags. When you think about it, though, we see bags far more often at stores, though. Plastic reigns supreme in the packaging of candy unless you’re at the theater looking to get your licorice fix.

Why is this, though? Why is it that plastic bags are far more common than cardboard candy boxes? And why is it that, half the time, the small cardboard boxes have plastic bags of candy within them?

Part of it is likely freshness. A sealed plastic bag is guaranteed to keep candies fresh. And while sugary candies are likely much better off at staying “fresh” for longer than chocolates, the whole point is to have an extremely long shelf life.

The thing is, plastic isn’t very environmentally friendly. So if you make your own candies are confectionaries, think about popping your treats in cardboard boxes for your customers. They’re more sustainable, typically have dividers within so that you can include different candies in different compartments, and they’re classier with a touch of uniqueness in the face of all the plastic we see daily.

Of course, you’re just as free to put your goods in a paper bag if the order is small enough. No matter which you opt for, though, consider the environmental impact you’re making by choosing not to go with plastic. Your customers can feel much better about being able to recycle something more natural than plastic, to boot.

When these things take place in your home, though, it especially feels different. Because when it comes down to it, though, it’s where you live. The place you feel protected and comfortable in. The place you come back to every single day to eat in, cook in, bathe in, and spend the majority of your life in. While a lot of people out there certainly do like to go out, eat out, and generally visit other places by traveling, the majority of people are tied to their homes one way or another.

The thing is, you need to take care of your house. Taking it for granted as some sort of thing that will be there every single day for you can create some bad habits of not cleaning it, not updating it, and not really enjoying it to the full potential.

Something you can do to combat this daily complacency, though, is to transform a room in your house at the pace of a single room per year. It doesn’t have to be new paint, new furniture, or even candy boxes placed strategically throughout table centerpieces in a completely new theme to the room. Rather, making the effort to spend some weekends on a new home project for a desk in your office or something along those lines will keep you happy, productive, and continually increase the value of your home just by keeping it updated and putting more work into it.

Perhaps a wall needs taken out to join two separate rooms. Maybe one of your kids’ bedrooms needs the wallpaper removed now that they’re getting older. Or your kitchen could use an island in it.

Whatever the case, try to make it a point to stay on top of updating your home. It could be installing new windows, making a new bed frame, or even adding new appliances to the mudroom or kitchen. No matter what, though, you don’t want to come home every single day only to take your shoes off, plop down on the couch, grab a few candy boxes to snack on, and just do, well, nothing. This is how things pile up, appliances go out of order, and rooms in your home become outdated.

But when it comes to snacks, things are a bit opposite. There’s not really anything sitting out in the cabinets for munching on, as getting your own food seems to be the way things go. And this is plenty fine considering the insane amounts of drinks we’re provided with. I’ll never go thirsty when I’m at work, that’s for sure.

So what do we do? Well, everyone brings their own lunch or goes to grab something around noon to munch on. In that regard, we all fend for ourselves.

Heck, sometimes I like to have apples sitting on my desk to snack on in the late afternoon when there’s still a few hours left to go but I’m beginning to nod off. So, I usually grab a handful of apples when I’m at my local grocery store. They’re the PERFECT snack for these times of day since they’re healthier, have a lot of sugars, and keep me occupied since they’re not exactly quiet or easy to eat.

Another thing I’ve been keen on doing lately is bringing in grapes. Again, these have the sugars I prefer if I’m dragging my feet in the morning, and they are interesting and fun to eat what with popping them in and biting down only to hear another “pop”.

One thing I will say the office likes to provide, though, is candy. I find it amusing since candy boxes full of sugary snacks and sour treats really aren’t the best for your health or teeth, but by golly they’ll tend to your sugar fix in a hurry and get you wired when you need it. I never thought I’d enjoy having two or three different candy boxes in my desk, but here we are with some Starburst, Hot Tamales, and Skittles. My favorite is becoming the Hot Tamales just because of the cinnamon burn that they give off after chewing for awhile.

If I had my pick, I’d say it would be great to have more fruits around the office. I’m a huge snacker on chips, so I think having chips wouldn’t help my health whatsoever, and it’d interfere with my lunches since I’m known to finish an entire bag of chips in one sitting. So, fruits (since that’s what I already do) would probably be my choice of snack to have provided for us.