Payless ShoeSource is launching a line of shoes designed to have a lower impact on the environment, joining a number of other footwear makers and retailers that have already done the same.
The company will start selling a line of shoes next year that are made with organic cotton and linen, hemp, recycled rubber and biodegradable glues. The line will include up to 12 women’s shoes, and Payless plans to expand the line to include shoes for kids and men.
The shoes will retail, on average, for less than $30, and will be available in about 500 of the company’s 4,600 stores, with select styles in about 1,000 stores. All will be available on Payless.com.
We’re all for inexpensive shoes, of course. And if they’re green, all the better. To be honest, we believe Payless’ shoe quality isn’t top-notch (and, really, who would argue?). So when the shoes get worn out – as they surely will, and quickly, too – at least they’ll decompose in landfills quickly....
Does a worldwide shipping company – and therefore a business that leaves a HUGE carbon footprint – that claims little “efficiencies” go a long way to saving big on carbon emissions, have a point?
In the case of DHL International, we think so.
The delivery behemoth has “set itself the ambitious target of cutting emissions by 30 percent by 2020 – a task made all the more challenging by the fact that the company’s global operations span 220 countries and boast 400 aircraft, 170,000 staff, 4,500 warehouses and other properties, and thousands of trucks.”
DHL plans to cut back on its emissions by “addressing the entire supply chain.”
It's about making a lot of small changes, [a company official] says. By focusing ruthlessly on carbon reduction in all parts of the supply chain we think we can do it.
Every reduction project DHL has undertaken as part of the initiative has also resulted in a reduction in operating costs, according to [a DHL executive], providing executives with the business case to push ahead with the program.
We can only hope that if DHL can reduce its emissions and carbon footprint as it hopes, other companies such as FedEx and UPS will follow suit.
Finally, here’s an idea for the ultimate in recycling – turn a 747 jumbo jet into a youth hostel .
The plane will be ready for guests in Stockholm, Sweden in December
From the beginning of December, hostel guests will, for the first time ever, be able to spend the night in a real, seasoned jumbo jet – on the ground This is the perfect way to start your trip abroad. The plane is a used out jumbo jet model 747-200 made in 1976. It has been awarded a brand new, modern interior decoration, offering night guests an experience apart. It’s exciting for aviation enthusiasts and families with children as well as for business people. This exhilarating experience leaves no-one indifferent –we promise.
Most of the 25 rooms (three beds each, with a few exceptions) have flat-screen TVs and access to wireless broadband. Just as in a flying plane, you’ll share your lavatory with other guests (although the “lavs” will be larger and will come with showers.
And, just as in the those flying jumbos, first class is upstairs, where a few private suites are located – and these have their own bathrooms.
For the ultimate in “staying in a converted jumbo jet” luxury, you also could rent the plane’s cockpit for an overnight stay. The hostel hosts converted the cockpit into a “de lux [sp] suite with parts of the original interior saved as curiosities.”
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