Are your current sandals falling apart, barely holding together, but your eco-conscience won’t let you throw them away and get some new sandals? Partner, you’re in luck, because Okabashi Brands just happens to make eco-friendly sandals from recycled shoes!

Who is Okabashi? Welp, they’re a small company in Buford, Georgia, that takes in old used sandals and shoes, and recycles/reuses them to make new sandals.

They found the kindness and pity in their hearts to send me a pair of brown Surf men’s sandals, and let me tell you, they seriously might be the most comfy pair of sandals I’ve ever wore. Not only are they soft and have some good arch support, but they’re anti-microbial and odor resistant (which I sadly need).

The best thing is, once your sandals have finally bit the big one, Okabashi will recycle them into, you guessed it, even more sandals. So if you have some old sandals or shoes, send them on in, and they can be reused to make some brand spankin’ new sandals.

We close with a short video explaining a bit more about this elusive company.

SPOILER ALERT: It turns out this guy’s favorite Okabashi sandals are the ones I got. What a coink-idink.

Update

After a few months of wearing my sandals around town, they suddenly broke (the little thong piece ripped in two). Devastated, I briefly considered ending it all, but instead remembered Okabashi’s two year guarantee.

Clinging to hope, I mailed in my ripped sandal, and about a week later I received, for FREE, a brand new pair of replacement sandals! Now that’s some high quality customer service, or my name ain’t EcoJoe.

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Then Teeny Tiny Spice Co. (of Vermont) has got you covered. They’re a small, family-run business that grinds their organic spices when you order them, so they arrive fresh and strong like bear. They sent me a package of their finest spices last weekend:

Not only do they offer their organic spices, but they also sent some cool recipes for said spices. I immediately sprinted into the kitchen to try my hand at whipping up some Garam Masala Pumpkin Bread (in case you have extra pumpkin after making pumpkin pie).

After following the simple recipe, mixing the ingredients (including the provided garam masala), and cookin’ it all in my electric oven, out popped this bad boy.

Hot dang it was delicioso. So if you’re ever in need of some freshly ground organic spices, check out the Teeny Tiny Spice Co. of Vermont. It’s a tad on the pricey side, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

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First, a little aside about Eco Clean; it’s a Scandinavian company that makes a variety of non-toxic, non-petro natural cleaners, most of them scented with essential oils. The cleaners are made with water, plants, and sugars, plus the bottles (and sprayheads) are 100% recyclable.

I tried out the Eco Clean Kitchen Counter Top cleaner, and the Eco Clean Glass Cleaner. Both of them worked swell, plus smelled good.

Also, their nozzles had a foaming option, if you wanted the crucial foam that strikes fear into dirt everywhere.

In short, I’d recommend checking Eco Clean out if you’re looking for some eco-friendly, great cleaners. The major downside is that they’re made in Denmark, so they have to be shipped pretty far, but besides that, they seem to be bueno for the environment.

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Professor Gordon Murray, who is a famous Formula 1 race car designer, is spearheading a project to produce some dinky cars that weigh only about 1,250 pounds, seat three, and have a top speed of close to 100 miles per hour — all for $9,000 per car.

Now I don’t think the T25 is as small as THIS atom-sized automobile (P-50), but it’s pretty dang close.

Not only is the car itself tiny, but it’s built in a very small factory, from recycled plastic bottles, glass fiber, and steel tubes — using only 20% the material needed for a “normal” car. As for its miles per gallon, let’s just say that it bucks this sad MPG-improvement trend and clocks in at a whopping 74 miles per gallon. Say whaaaaattt??!!!

All in all, it looks like a great, efficient car. Of course, it’s a bit “greener” to ride a bike instead, but if you’ve got to drive a car, then the T25 may just be for you.

Bonus T25 Benefit

Question: How could you be mad if you were pulled over by a cop car that looked like this?

Answer: You couldn’t.

Further Reading on the T25

• BBC
• HowStuffWorks

Also, Don’t Forget!

You can win a free copy of “Off the Grid” by entering this contest! Hurry!!

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I guess they used to just expect you to throw away the paper and rubber band (committing a major sin against Mother Earth), but they have seen the light and are now reusing them.

Anyhoo, it’ll be good to see more and more business start finding ways to both help the environment AND save money. A hearty kudos to the Garner Southeast Library.

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I figured it’d be one of those gimmicky “Go Green!” products whose only claim to “greenness” is its actual color. Imagine, if you will, my surprise when I saw that 40% of its surface is made from recycled rubber. Now sure, that’s not 100%, but that’s almost half of the surface that’s made of recycled rubber! Crazy.

While it’s not quite as eco-friendly (or cheap) as buying a used basketball (or just finding one in a creek), it’s a good start. I hope to try one out soon; if it passes my reverse jam test, then it’s good enough for me.

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A little while ago, I had the good fortune to talk with Aaron Vronko, the CEO of RapidRepair, and ask him a few questions. For your 411, RapidRepair buys your broken small electronics and uses their parts to repair other people’s gadgets. A prime example of a business that helps the environment while also making money. But let’s get on with this here entrevista…

Joe (Me): So, what does your company repair?

Aaron Vronko: Ipods, iphones, zune, mp3 players, handheld game consoles.

J: I heard you guys do electronics recycling; do people send in or come in in person?
AV: We get lots of walk-in business, but mainly people send in what they need to be repaired.

J: How fast do you guys fix most things?
AV: Our diagnostic process is free. We average about 1 day for diagnostics, then 1 day for repairs, so even if you mail your device in, you can get it back that same week.

J: How long have you been doing electronics recycling?
AV: We started our repair business 5 years ago, but didn’t recycle then. We didn’t throw away old stuff, just kept it around since it was all small electronics that didn’t take up much space. Then about 3 years ago we started recycling old stuff that we couldn’t use.

J: How much of what people bring in can you actually use?
AV: Very damaged items get recycled. We’ve used a couple different recycling companies, and usually have to call them just once a year. We don’t get any money for plastics or aluminum or batteries, but we do get a very small amount for a pound of boards.

J: Do y’all have any plans on expanding and opening new stores?
AV: We’ve looked at it, but we’re pretty comfortable. Our operations are basically at the center of country [Kalamazoo, Michigan], so it’s pretty fast to mail stuff to and from us.

J: What’s the biggest way that your company saves material from landfills?
AV: We use old parts to repair electronics. We take in old damaged devices and use them to make refurbished devices. Last year we saved 10,000 pounds of small electronics waste saved from landfill. These were small electronics, so 10,000 pounds represents a lot of iPods and Zunes. We just added consoles this year so the amount of waste saved this year will go up dramatically.

J: Last question: how many iPods do you yourself own?
AV: I actually don’t own any. I have an iPhone, and sometimes use that to play music. But even if I didn’t have the iPhone, I wouldn’t have an iPod.

I hope you enjoyed that interview. I know I did. The only question I forgot to ask was if I could have a free iPod. Dang! Anyhoo, if you need your iPod or Zune repaired (or want to sell your old or broken one), check out RapidRepair.

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‘Tis a good way to reduce waste and save some money, so give it a looksie. I shall end this brief article with a little more detail about how they aim to plant 10,000 trees today, courtesy of their press release:

For Earth Day 2009, Swaptree is working with The Nature Conservancy’s ‘Plant a Billion Trees’ initiative and will be planting a tree for every trade completed on Earth Day. While currently several thousand trades happen every day on Swaptree, our goal on Earth Day is to do 10,000 trades and plant 10,000 trees. While the average Swaptree user, given its emphasis on recycling and sharing, lowers their yearly carbon footprint by 180 pounds, with this initiative we hope to offset several thousand tons of CO2.

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Let me tell you, las hormigas didn’t stand a chance. They were dead within seconds, as a licorice scent filled the room. All I had to do then was wipe up the residue, which was easy to do.

So if you’re looking for an organic insecticide that’s non-toxic and safe around kids and pets (so they say), then check out EcoSmart. But you don’t have to take my word for it.

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So as not to be a complete scrub, I bought a cup o’ coffee there, insisting that the coffee wench use my handy reusable mug I had brought instead of one of those wasteful, disposable styrofoam cups.

To my surprise, she gave me a 15% discount for using my own reusable mug. She said she was only supposed to give a 10% discount for this, but she didn’t feel like that was enough. I thanked her profusely for this.

If every coffee place gave a big discount for people who brought in their own cups, think of how many disposable paper or styrofoam cups wouldn’t get used once, then thrown away.

So next time you’re going out for some coffee, try bringing your own mug and asking for a discount. If they don’t have one, suggest it (without being a jerk about it). If there’s a monetary incentive to bring your own cup, more and more people will do it.

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