ABOUT US

Waseca Biomes is a small, women-owned company in Athens, Georgia. We have been building and self-publishing our educational materials for over twenty years. We value the Montessori Method's systematic approach; accordingly, we strive to develop materials that isolate the principles being taught to help a guide introduce concepts and build a child's skills in manageable increments.

Our materials emphasize building language skills in conjunction with environmental and cultural studies. Our products and lessons are easily integrated with traditional Montessori lessons and provide unique approaches to exploring our Universe and our planet with students. We believe that inviting children to learn about the world through biomes opens them up to the wonders of nature, stimulates their curiosity, and hones their critical thinking skills.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out via email or give us a call at 706-546-8833. Thanks for being such amazing customers!

Frequently Asked

ORDERING

Ordering on our website is easy: just add the items to your shopping cart and proceed to checkout! You can create an account or checkout as a guest.

Creating an account helps you to keep track of your orders and update your contact info. You can also create wishlists and registries that can be shared.

We accept PayPal and all major credit cards at our checkout; once you've placed your order, you will receive an email confirmation. You will receive another email with tracking when we ship your order. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

For ClassWallet orders, please email us directly (hello@wasecabiomes.org) with your shipping address and a list (screenshots are great!) of the materials you would like; we will put together a quote for you that you can submit directly to ClassWallet. If you choose to submit the claim directly, please be sure to click through the checkout process on our website so shipping charges are included in your claim. Thank you!

For Purchase Orders, please contact us by phone (706-546-8833) or email (hello@wasecabiomes.org) for quotes and more information. You can email screenshots of your loaded cart or use the Order Form PDF to help us prepare a quote for you.

If you are a public-school teacher interested in our materials, you may want to check out DonorsChoose. This fantastic organization matches teachers’ projects with donors to fund classrooms wishlists. Click through to learn more information and get started with DonorsChoose.

Shipping

We’re delighted to report that every order you place with us now ships carbon neutral. We are partnering with Shopify Planet to support long-term, carbon sequestration projects, because we are committed to celebrating and sustaining our planet’s biomes to preserve a wild, wonderful world for future generations.

For locations within the contiguous United States, the shipping rate averages 15% of your total order. International shipping rates average 25% of your total order. We strive to process your order within 1–2 weeks, though classroom packages and larger orders will take longer to prepare. While we aim to ship your order as soon as possible and surprise you with an earlier delivery, we are a small business making the products to order and cannot always make that happen. We promise we are doing our very best to get your order out to you quickly.

International customers are responsible for any duties or taxes associated with their order. International shipping is available on our website through DHL express: the cost is 25% of the total on average. The rates are carrier-calculated, based on weights and dimensions.

RETURNS/REFUNDS/EXCHANGES:

Please check your order when you receive it and contact us within 30 DAYS for returns or exchanges.

 

My materials arrived damaged.

Sorry! Please contact us within 30 days so we can make it right. Please send us an email that includes your order number, photos of the damage, and photos of the shipping materials the damaged goods arrived in. We will replace the damaged materials and send you a return shipping label.

 

I received the incorrect item and/or am missing something from my order.

Sorry! Please send us an email that includes your order number and a list of the missing and/or incorrect materials. We will work with you to rectify issues with your order and send you a return shipping label for the incorrect items.

 

I want to return all or part of my order.

Merchandise that is not defective may be returned within 30 days for credit toward another purchase. Please send us an email listing your order number and the items eligible for return. The customer is responsible for return shipping costs for merchandise that is not defective; credit will be issued upon our receipt of the returned materials.

 

I need assistance for another issue with my order.

Email us at hello@wasecabiomes.org; we’re always happy to respond to your queries and concerns : )

 

REPLACEMENTS

We want you to have whole materials and will always do our best to help our customers replace any missing or broken pieces. Some of the older products from our line may not always be available, and because our abilities as a tiny company are limited, we may not be able to accommodate some special requests and custom orders. It never hurts to ask; please let us know if you need our help!

 

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you visit or make a purchase from wasecabiomes.org (the “Site”).

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT
When you visit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Site, we collect information about the individual web pages or products that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to the Site, and information about how you interact with the Site. We refer to this automatically-collected information as “Device Information”.

We collect Device Information using the following technologies:
- “Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
- “Log files” track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.
- “Web beacons”, “tags”, and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.

Additionally when you make a purchase or attempt to make a purchase through the Site, we collect certain information from you, including your name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including credit card numbers, email address, and phone number. We refer to this information as “Order Information”.

When we talk about “Personal Information” in this Privacy Policy, we are talking both about Device Information and Order Information.

HOW DO WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
We use the Order Information that we collect generally to fulfill any orders placed through the Site (including processing your payment information, arranging for shipping, and providing you with invoices and/or order confirmations). Additionally, we use this Order Information to:
- Communicate with you;
- Screen our orders for potential risk or fraud; and
- When in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services.

We use the Device Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Site

 

SHARING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We share your Personal Information with third parties to help us use your Personal Information, as described above. For example, we use Shopify to power our online store--you can read more about how Shopify uses your Personal Information here: https://www.shopify.com/legal/privacy. We also use Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Site -- you can read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Finally, we may also share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful request for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights.

BEHAVIOURAL ADVERTISING
As described above, we use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.

You can opt out of targeted advertising by using the links below:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
- Google: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous
- Bing: https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/policies/personalized-ads

Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at: http://optout.aboutads.info/.

DO NOT TRACK
Please note that we do not alter our Site’s data collection and use practices when we see a Do Not Track signal from your browser.

YOUR RIGHTS
If you are a European resident, you have the right to access personal information we hold about you and to ask that your personal information be corrected, updated, or deleted. If you would like to exercise this right, please contact us through the contact information below.

Additionally, if you are a European resident we note that we are processing your information in order to fulfill contracts we might have with you (for example if you make an order through the Site), or otherwise to pursue our legitimate business interests listed above. Additionally, please note that your information will be transferred outside of Europe, including to Canada and the United States.

DATA RETENTION
When you place an order through the Site, we will maintain your Order Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information.

CHANGES
We may update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons.

CONTACT US
For more information about our privacy practices, if you have questions, or if you would like to make a complaint, please contact us by e‑mail at wasecabiomes@gmail.com or by mail using the details provided below:


Waseca Biomes, 215 Commerce Blvd, Athens GA 30606, United States