The Daily Valet. - 9/8/20, Tuesday

✔️ It's a Mystery

September 08, 2020

Tuesday, September 8th Edition

Cory Ohlendorf, Editor in Chief of Valet.

Be careful with those gender reveals. Maybe just a phone call?

Cory Ohlendorf , Editor ⋯ @coryohlendorf

Today's edition is presented by

Today’s Big Story

Amazon Tries to Stop Mystery Seeds

All summer, people have been receiving unsolicited packages of seeds

Have you heard about these random packs of seeds that just show up, unannounced? This is not a joke set-up waiting for a punchline. For the past few months, thousands of unsolicited seed orders have shown up at the homes of Americans, mainly from China, and classified as other items such as jewelry or toys.

This is more serious than it sounds, and the mysterious packages are currently being investigated by multiple U.S. government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Postal Service.

According to the Wall Street Journal, retailers Wish and Amazon will no longer allow the import of plant or seed products into the U.S. And Amazon also proceeded to update its public rules and specify that the importing of seeds into the U.S. was prohibited.

“Moving forward, we are only permitting the sale of seeds by sellers who are based in the U.S.,” an Amazon spokesperson told the Journal in a statement.

In late July, more than 27 states had reported mysterious seed deliveries, reports the New York Times. The USDA is urging anyone who receives an unsolicited package of seeds to immediately contact their state plant regulatory official or APHIS state plant health director.

Regulators’ best guess is that this is a brushing scam. In this type of scam, a company buys its own items, usually inexpensive ones, and ships them to ... honestly it doesn’t matter who. The point is to have a purchase on record, so that the scammer can write a glowing review that looks like it came from a real customer.

↦ Just Me? All this talk of seeds reminds me of John Oliver's seed ministry, the legally recognized church, Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption.

Coronavirus Spikes and Dips

Some good news, some not so great news

Summer is wrapping up, but COVID-19 isn't going anywhere. From Memorial Day weekend through the unofficial end of the season Monday, the number of Americans who died of covid-19 shot up from just under 100,000 to more than 186,000, according to data tracked by the Washington Post, as infections quadrupled to upward of 6.2 million.

New York, once considered the epicenter of the virus, marked a promising turning point as Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state’s infection rate has remained below 1% for 30 straight days—illustrating how proper distancing and masks can work.

But across the country, as more universities and colleges try to reopen with in-person classes, outbreaks, student parties and pushback from instructors and students are threatening their plans.

Meanwhile in Europe, cases are spiking as social distancing restrictions ease, reports NBC News. A concerning number of new cases in France, Spain and the United Kingdom (mostly among young people) are raising concerns about a “second wave” in countries still reeling from the pandemic’s first wave. Outside Europe, India displaced Brazil to take second place after the United States in terms of coronavirus infections, with nearly 91,000 new cases (and growing).

↦ On the Bright Side: Experts are now saying that it's highly unlikely that food or food packaging will spread COVID-19.

Special Promotion

Looking for a simple way to improve your home life? Try these natural pick-me-ups.

Plastic Food Packaging Is Now the Most Prevalent Beach Trash

It has outpaced the long-standing cigarette butt

Candy wrappers and chip bags have become the most commonly found beach trash, surpassing cigarette butts as the top item for the first time, reports National Geographic.

That unfortunate statistic is among the findings in the Ocean Conservancy’s latest report on its annual beach cleanup, when more than 20.8 million tons of trash were collected from the beaches in 116 countries in 2019. That’s 32.5 million items picked up in one day.

Only 13% of plastic containers and packaging were recycled in the United States in 2017, according to the Environmental Protection Agency—the lowest recycling rate among containers and packaging of any material.

Meanwhile, Japan introduced a mandatory fee for plastic bags this summer, in hopes of cutting down the country's reliance on single-use plastics. It's a move that mirrors practices in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

↦ Join In: This year, because of the pandemic, volunteers are encouraged to work solo or skip the beach altogether and concentrate on reducing waste in their own homes.

How’s Your Back?

Chiropractors report a surge in spine problems

According to a recent survey from the American Chiropractic Association, 92% of chiropractors said that patients are reporting more neck and back pain since the stay-at-home guidance began this spring.

It makes sense, I guess. Most people thought they'd be working from home for a few weeks at most and started logging hours from their sofa, bed and dining table. At first they felt only mild discomfort. Then, gradually, the pain sharpened.

According to the New York Times, laptops are a big culprit. You're forced to either look down to see the screen, or (if it's elevated) raise your hands to type. Then there's the chair. Non-work chairs are often the wrong height, preventing us from sitting in what Nikki Weiner, an ergonomics consultant, calls the neutral posture, or “ears over shoulders over hips.”

But this isn't just about sitting up straight. Elemental reports that much of what we've been told about “good posture” is wrong, and in fact, it might actually be making your pain worse.

↦ FYI: Here are three exercises you can do throughout the day to relieve your pain and realign your spine.

In Other News

Other Things We’re Talking About Today

Driving the Polestar 2

Breaking rules

Pandemic silver linings

Special Promotion

Bring the Outside In

A simple way to improve your (or someone else’s) home life

We’re all being asked to do our part and stay home more these days. One way to instantly improve your surroundings is to bring a little of the outside indoors. UrbanStems, the tastemaker's choice for flowers, recently launched dried bouquets that have a uniquely modern, textured style. The artfully dried stems are also easy to care for (no water) and a great value, considering that they'll be able to stick around for months to come.

We like the simplicity of the feather-like pampas grass—a hardy South American plant native to Brazil, Argentina and Chile—which comes in an elegant mouth-blown glass vase. It makes a statement without being loud. But if you want something a bit more fanciful, there's the monochromatic Logan bouquet, which features preserved ferns, sea lavender, dried oats and strawflower. Either would look sharp as a table centerpiece or accenting a fireplace mantle or nightstand.

The Quill $55 (with vase)

The Logan $95 (with vase)

Pampas grass $35

↦ Get It: Browse UrbanStems' full summer collection

What We’re Buying

This minimalist metal table can do a lot. It's a simple table with a built-in shelf for a stack of books next to your sofa or lounge chair. It can easily sub-in for a nightstand or printer stand next to your desk. What's more, at this price, you could pick up two for less than what one would normally cost.

↦ Get It $70 by Project 62