Green Laces For Fans Of The Planet
Natalie Spilger With GreenLaces
GreenLaces.org presents two simple, yet powerful, steps to save the planet. Step 1: Make a Promise to the Planet. Step 2: Wear GreenLaces shoelaces to show you are a fan of the planet. It is that simple. Natalie Spilger, founder and CEO of GreenLaces.org, is a professional soccer player for the Chicago Red Stars with a loud and proud eco-friendly promise stated on her website to “never buy a non-re-usable water bottle, unless in an emergency situation.” As of March 19, 2010, the website lists every Planet Promise made thus far, currently reaching to 1,094 promises. Examples such as #1051 “I promise to not use plastic bags when I go to the grocery store.” or #24 “I pledge to bring my own cup to the coffee shop when I buy my tea.” The goal of GreenLaces is to reach one million planet promises, an amazing feat for Spilger’s organization, our go-green community and the Earth we inhabit. “It is ultimately my goal that the necessity for green laces does not exist,”shares the shoelace expert, Spilger. In the meantime, she and many others rock the laces and keep their promises until we are all aligned on the green movement.
In what she deemed her quarterlife crisis, Natalie Spilger had found herself counting light bulbs and greening buildings’ operations and lighting systems when her own light bulb flashed on. She realized exactly how she wanted to improve the World: “I want to green people, not buildings!” Presently, with her professional sports life and passion for the planet, she contemplated fusing the two domains and asked herself, “How can I symbolically rock this value?”
She found her answer in shoe laces: green shoes laces made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic – a new uniting emblem of the green movement. A pink ribbon for breast cancer, a yellow bracelet for cancer research, and now Green Laces for the environment.
“The challenge of a deteriorating planet can be approached in many ways. GreenLaces confronts the challenge through pop culture and individual reform profiting an immediate and viral impact…GreenLaces inspires the masses and makes ‘being green’ a pervasive social phenomenon,” as the purpose of the campaign states.
If you need to replace broken shoe laces, think green. The brightly colored accessories have been seen wrapped around wrists and even sported by athletes at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. For many, athletes are role models, and GreenLaces is striving to start with laces and green the entire athletic industry, from hydration drinks to sporting venues with an environmental conscience. Lace up, make a promise to the planet and get on the green foot. greenlaces.org
Log on to GreenLaces.org and then write LA YOGA with your planet pledge at: edit@layogamagazine.com and enter to win a Kulae ecoYoga mat.
Jacki Carr can be found loving life at lululemon athletica Beverly Hills. She writes a blog about riding a bus in LA: SnobOnaBus.blogspot.com and is building her own PR company, AuthenticPR, providing services for those who want to elevate the world to greatness: jqcarr@lululemon.com.
By Jacki Carr
