Apparently the Toys R Us boss has deemed online shopping to be un-green… and somehow everyone driving to Toys R Us on their own, circling around the parking lot to find a space, listening to canned holiday muzak and buying mass produced plastic junk is green?

I’ve been to Toys R Us maybe half a dozen times since I was pregnant with Kid1, mostly because I had gift cards, items to return, or store credit. I hate it.

Visiting TRU is *such* any overwhelming/over stimulating experience, there is aisle after aisle of colorful, plastic, branded/licensed, battery-operated, noise-making unnecessary junk. All stuff we don’t need.

I much prefer shopping online where I can easily pick out what I want without being bombarded by all the other stuff and there’s no irritating holiday music, unhelpful (or unavailable) sales people, looking for a parking place, hauling kids in and out of the car, through a parking lot (this is extra fun in the rain or without a cart), around a store, waiting in line, etc.

I like being able to buy things that are likely to get played with for years, and not things that are likely to break before Christmas day is done. I want to be able to compare prices easily, and be able to shop once the kids are tucked in bed without distractions. I also don’t want a ton of toys. We have plenty.

I can order from a dozen different stores without driving all over town. FedEx, UPS and USPS drive along my street almost daily anyway, how is it any “less green” for them to stop and drop something off at my house? We recycle the boxes (usually after the kids build epic forts), and it is so much easier than fighting with holiday crowds.

Even when I don’t shop online I’m not going to visit TRU, I do my best to support local shops, I load my husband and kids into the car and we park and then walk to visit the library book sale, local toy store, little shoppes and cookie company. I think that is much greener than driving from one big box store to another.