A Simple Way to Make a Difference: one pair of shoes

I believe some of the most powerful actions are simple.

In May 2013 I traveled with Soles for Jesus to Mozambique to help distribute shoes to Villagers living in poverty. The hope is to transform lives with a pair of shoes - shoes can prevent disease, allow school attendance, help people travel and work and support their families.

We visited people from several villages over a 5 day period. I personally washed hundreds of pairs of feet. But the journey started with donating one pair of shoes.

It is simple: donate a pair of shoes.

It makes sense: what to do with shoes your kids outgrow? Donate.

It's easy: find a collection, start a collection, or ship your pair to Soles for Jesus.

It's green: extending the life of shoes.

It's meaningful: giving health, education, work, hope.

There are many simple actions you can take that are powerful. Some every day, some every month, some once a year.

I hope the next time something simple catches your eye you will stop and think about it and take that simple but powerful action.

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The Villagers were overwhelmed with joy knowing that people from the other side of the world cared about them so much they sent their shoes and even sent people to bring the shoes to them directly. We were overwhelmed by their gratitude and hospitality. It seemed to me however that it was more than shoes being exchanged - there was a lot of love, hope, and faith being distributed both ways as well.

That's why when I find an organization like Soles for Jesus that is doing something so simple yet so meaningful I participate.

Alexandra Gnoske is a nature lover, writer, and environmental expert.

Reusing, Recycling, and Juicing!

Squash from the garden & leftovers from the kids' lunches

When you have children you inevitably have lots of waste. They create extra laundry, don't finish their food, bring home lots of papers from school, and grow like weeds and make cloth and shoe shopping a regular chore.

I try to manage our waste, so in my house I was able to get our family of five down to two bags of garbage a week. I realized a lot of garbage was food, and so in an effort to not eat all of their left-overs I decided to compost. That has been working well, and our garbage went down to one bag a week. However, I prefer to get the most use out of a thing, like reusing before recycling. Especially when things are still in good or even great condition.

Recently we bought a juicer for our 11th wedding anniversary (steel). I thought it would be like many other kitchen items, cool but rarely used. I've made a good effort though and have been juicing every day. But one of the best parts about it is when my kids get home from school and I unpack their lunches. Any leftover fruit (pears, apples, pineapples, strawberries) and any leftover veggies (carrots, celery, green beans) gets put to the side to add to my juice.

As a backyard city gardener I especially appreciate the juicer (and blender) as you never want to see all that work and patience in the garden end up in the garbage or even compost. So when my kids don't finish their snack, whether it's strawberries or tomatoes, I don't panic, I just juice it.

Any parent knows that wasted food is like money down the drain. And any juicer knows that it takes a lot of food to make a glass of juice. This has turned out to be a win, win, win for me and my family. I've saved money, saved food, and produced less waste (there's always plenty of compost material already)...good for the pocket-book, digestive tract, and environment!

NOTE: this also works well for making smoothies in a blender if you don't have a juicer, minus the veggies. Toss the unused fruit into the freezer to keep it from decomposing if you aren't ready to blend right away.

Alexandra Gnoske is a nature lover, writer, and environmental expert.

World Turtle Day - 2011

You may not know it, but Monday, May 23rd, is World Turtle Day. And this isn't even the first year!

World Turtle Day began in 2000 by American Tortoise Rescue in an effort to bring attention to and educate people about turtles and tortoises. It is also a day to encourage people to help turtles and tortoises thrive and survive.

So how can you help? 

No matter where in the world you live, your everyday actions are affecting turtles and tortoises. Everything you put on the land ends up in the water. So here are a few simple things you can do to help them "thrive and survive":

1. Cut up anything and everything with a circle or hole, before it goes in the recycling or garbage. Example; nets and bags for fruit, handles on plastic bags, six pack and multi pack plastic rings. We don't want these items to get caught on and hurt our turtles.

2. Recycle. Find a way to get your plastic into a recycling facility and out of the landfill where it is more likely to end up in a waterway.

3. Use reusable bags wherever you go! Don't just bring them to the grocery store, take them everywhere. In other words, give up the plastic bag. Even when you cut up plastic so it doesn't get caught on turtles, they still may eat plastic. It looks a lot like their food - jelly fish and squid.

4. Don't Litter! Most litter ends up in the water, and it eventually flows into the ocean.

5. Pick up litter. This can be messy so it's best to have some gloves. But sometimes you find yourself facing litter when it's not a planned pick up. Make sure you wash your hands. You are doing everyone a favor when you pick up litter.

Some Local Celebrations

1. Meet 14 different species of turtles at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago on Sunday, May 22nd.

2. Enjoy a discount on organic cotton produce bags at Peaceful Parlour in Geneva, IL to celebrate World Turtle Day!

Thank you for caring about turtles, tortoises, and everyone on the planet! You are a great example and more people will care because they see you care.

Plastic Converted Back to Oil? It's Possible!

I found this video which shows the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time.

"Man Invents Machine to Convert Plastic to Oil." Yes, it's true. And I want to know why we haven't heard more about this.

The implications are mind boggling. I'm just blown away!

- Alix

Green Holiday Guide: Interviews with Green Businesses

Interview with Juan D. Ribes

Juan D. Ribes is an Economist and works as an Export Manager at the Polycart Group in Valencia, Spain. The Polycart Group has developed a shopping cart that is safer for children and better for the environment.

RM: Tell me about your product and why it is important for the environment.

JR: We make all plastic single block shopping carts which are better for the shops, customers, their children and the environment. The Polycart is the most efficient shopping cart from the environmental point of view. It is an eco friendly shopping cart in all the aspects of its lifespan: manufacturing, transport, use and recycling.

Clean Manufacturing Process.
Made of 100% recyclable plastic.

All manufacturing scrap parts are reground at our factory and recycled into other products.
Unlike the metallic shopping carts, no chrome plating processes are involved in the manufacturing of the Polycart, therefore it avoids entirely the use of chromic acid, hydrochloric acid, nickel chloride, nickel metal, nickel sulfate or sodium bisulfate and the corresponding residues.
The manufacturing process of plastic injection molding involves and efficient and responsible use of water, which is only intended for the refrigeration of the moulds in a closed circuit. No toxic substance is ever dumped to the water.

It has a longer lifespan, is easier to clean and recycle, and is safer for children.

RM: How did the Polycart come about?

JR: Shopping carts were invented in 1937. And little has changed since then. We are a plastic injection moulding company with lots of experience. Mr. Morcillo and Mr. Pamies, the owners of Polycart, recovered a former project by adapting the product working together with specialists from several countries and optimizing the production process to launch a new shopping cart worldwide at a competitive price. We are positive that the Polycart will change the way people look at shopping carts specially concerning maneuvering, effort and sustainability.

RM: Is the Polycart available now, and, if so, where can people find it?

JR: We started working in may 08 with two different models P220 and P180 which have been available since January 09. We launched the Polycarts starting in Spain at a couple of major retail chains and we also provided with Polycarts to some retailers in Poland. We have representatives and distributors in many countries such as Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Turkey, Venezuela, The United Arab Emirates and The United Kingdom who are dealing with the major retail companies in order to start providing them with Polycarts.

RM: How have people responded to the Polycart?

JR: Thanks to the feedback we have received from many people, (customers, distributors, representatives, experts and final users) we have worked on continuously improving the design and features of the Polycarts. Our customers have been able to check and confirm the benefits the Polycarts provide to themselves as well as to their final users, so we are growing.

RM: If there is one message you would like to tell people about the Polycart, what would it be?

JR: We make shopping carts that are designed to be better and safer for the final users, the retailers and the community.

Thank you Juan!

I never even thought about shopping carts and all the heavy metals and materials used in manufacturing.

Juan D. Ribes grew up in Madrid where he studied economics. He studied abroad in Oklahoma and now resides in Valencia where he works for the Polycart Group.