Saving Green

Shoe Companies Doing Their Part to Recycle

As Spring arrives I began dreaming of open-toe shoes and flip-flops. While shopping at my favorite online retailers I've noted that more and more shoe companies are getting environmentally friendly by incorporating post-consumer recycling materials. Here are a few of those shoes:

Teva Makayla offered at Zappos for $74.00 here: http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/31167640/c/93304.html






They feature:

• Part of Teva's new Curbside collection, shoes that literally turn trash into treasure by incorporating post consumer recycled materials.


• Post-consumer recycled PET canvas lining.


• Mush® EVA sockliner with a recycled PET cover.


• Post-consumer recycled rubber outsole.

For men, Reef offers these handsome flip-flops (Jutas) for $51.00 at Zappos here: http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/34875023/c/680.html

They feature:

• Contoured compression molded 51% post industrial waste recycled eva footbed with anatomical arch support.
• 30% recycled content rubber outsole.

So, this spring after you've sent your old shoes off for recycling or donated your slightly used pair to charity, keep your eye out for companies that are doing their part to include recycled waste to make new fashionable products for your feet.

Veggie Update

It's final exam season, but while I and my poor blog are wilting, my new veggie and herb seedlings are reaching for the sun. Here's a quick picture as an update to my previous post. I love these peat pots, I have nearly a 90% success rate. I'll definately use these again next year. Now, if only I can manage not to kill them until its time to hand them over to mother earth.

Super Cute Circle Skirt from Free T-shirts

So tonight, after working two jobs, when I should be working on my paper for class I felt a stress that nothing other than a beer and some sewing could cure. So I reached for my pile of freebie t-shirts and Megan Nicolay's "Generation T: 108 ways to transform a t-shirt". I searched for a fun project and found "Flare thee well". It featured 2 xl t-shirts and one fitted t-shrit that had been cut and sewn into an adorable skirt with a foldover waistband. Who wouldn't want to wear a skirt made of uber comfy t-shirts? Fortunately I have a ton of unworn t-shirts laying around. It seems that companies, bands, and friends are always giving away plenty of t-shirts. I used to wear them as pajamas or donate them to Goodwill, but now that I have this great book I feel that I can finally do something practical with them. So, I began another sewing adventure. I did a quick waist measurment, and began cutting and pinning away. Two hours later, my skirt was complete, and its as comfortable as I had hoped it would be and cute enough to wear around on the weekends. So here are some pictures of the construction. (Excuse the picture taken in the mirror, but I haven't quite figured out how to take real pictures of myself in my creations yet.) I love the instant gratification that sewing a project from free, unused clothes brings. Now that I am filled with a sense of accomplishment, my stress seems like a distant memory. Time to celebrate my handiwork with a good night's rest.