Where to buy Eco Friendly Shoes?

Every women loves her shoes, it's simply just a natural instinct to her. But if you're an environment loving lass then that your love for shoes can leave you in quite a muddle because let’s face it, fashion doesn't always put nature first.

Are you now frowning and thinking about how you'll have to submit yourself to a lifetime of wearing the more casual styled eco-friendly footwears such as hemp sandals, organic cotton flip-flops and organic cotton canvas slip-on flats?

If you are, then stop because all is not lost. I agree that most eco-friendly shoes you find sold are casual in style and often leaving you parched for choice, they also don’t make for very suitable accessories/necessities in formal work space.

I’m sure you’d agree it wouldn’t be very professional looking to enter the courthouse in a pair of eco-friendly moccasins. Don’t get me wrong, they are lovely and absolutely comfortable but again not very well suited, matched with a power suit.

Two Girls, One Garden

I know it’s really late in the season to be planting a garden; it’s the middle of fall and winter is nearly upon us. After discussing the bee crisis thing with a friend, however, we thought it would be a great idea to a) take advantage of the rest of the snow-less weather for a bee-friendly garden and b) to start planning for spring. So I’m writing this chronicling the beginning of our venture, with much more to come. 

My friend and I aren’t the gardening type, really. I’ve planted a few geraniums along my parents’ walkway in my day, but that’s the extent of it. Still, we love the idea of tilling the soil, working the land, and being as outdoorsy as two city girls can manage.

 So far, we have access to the backyard behind my apartment building and, more fitting as the weather grows colder, a little plot of land in a greenhouse through Chicago’s city garden effort. I borrowed a trowel and the bitty rake thing from my mom, and we’re going to get some soil from Home Depot tomorrow, as well as some plants.

Recycling Re-useables

Reusable containers are a great way to cut down on unnecessary waste from common household items like bottled water and Styrofoam dishes and cups, but even out reusable containers sometimes wear out. Then comes the question; how do you recycle your worn-out reusable containers? 

• Ziploc: Because Ziploc bags are in fact plastic bags, many recycling operations will not accept them at the curb, even if it is marked with a recycle code. The best way to get the most out of your Ziploc is to rinse and re-use it.

The Plight of the Honey Bees

Photo by Jenske

We’ve all heard about the honey bee crisis: since 2006, millions of colonies have died out due to the mysterious colony collapse disorder (CCD), a condition where worker bees suddenly abandon their hives. While there are many possible causes for the incredible decline in the population, no one has quite nailed down why these bees are disappearing in extraordinary numbers.

So who cares, right? You can’t pet a bee, or put it in a sweater, and if you try to cuddle with one you’ll probably get stung. But it is a big deal! Bees are an integral part of our agricultural system; they pollinate about a third of crops grown in the United States, including strawberries, almonds, peaches, watermelons, oranges, and tomatoes. Not to mention the countless uses greenies have for honey and beeswax. No bees equals no deliciousness.

Just a Little Green Rant

I am not a person prone to bouts of negativity. I tend to be very optimistic. I'm not extremely emotional about stuff, even serious stuff. I have this strange ability, which I inherited from my father, to step back from a situation and assess it objectively. I can even do this with my own extreme emotions in a kind of spooky third-person way: "I guess I like I want to kill you because you just insulted everything I value, but I realize that killing you will accomplish little except for a brief moment of making me feel better, after which I will go to jail which will <em>not make me feel better at all</em>, so I'm going to leave now."

That sort of thing. That's just me. I can't take credit, and I really shouldn't. Sometimes I respond in an entirely inappropriate way to standard social situations. We won't go into details now, but trust me. Emotional objectivity is not always an appreciated feature.

Old Time Sustainability

Just a few weeks ago, I went to a family reunion at my grandparents' farm in Mississippi. It was one of those reunions with long tables full of food and third cousins you've never met, lots of iced sweet tea and babies on blankets in the yard and your great-aunt asking about a sibling you don't have... "No, really, Great Aunt Tillie, I just have one brother. I promise."

My grandparents - all four of them - grew up in the Depression, worked hard, and made comfortable lives for themselves. My mother's parents are the ones with the farm. My Grandpa started out small and farmed cotton and soybeans. He worked hard, saved money, and now he has a 1000-acre farm that he rents out while he sits in his air-conditioned antique shop and sips his Diet Coke.

At the farm, they keep a bucket with a wooden spoon in it in the cabinet underneath the sink. Every uneaten scrap of food goes in that bucket, and at the end of the day two or three or four eager farm dogs consume it. They like it lots better than their dog food, which they still get, but it's never enough to make them sick.

The Culture of Ceaseless Movement

Confession: I am fascinated by the self-help department of my local bookstore. I could wander in there and be happily lost for hours, up to my eyeballs in soul-searching and intuitive questions and personality tests and emotional iq and relationship advice and brilliant suggestions for finding balance.
I know I end up reading the same thing over and over again, simply written by different people with slightly different perspectives. Some of these people approach the topic from vastly, wildly different worldviews. There's a self-help author from every camp, it seems, whether it be Hippie or Christian or New Age or Feminist or some undefined mix. Actually, I think the majority is some undefined mix.
That's not my point, however. My point is that we should start wondering what kind of culture creates a market of continual need for every sort of self-help philosophy that can be produced. Because, essentially, they all say the same thing: Slow down. Think more. Do less. Find what you value. Lose what is unimportant. Make conscious choices. Quit trying to impress other people. Be who you are. Know who you are. Love freely. Cut off negativity.