I always wanted to be a socially responsible entrepreneur and giving back to the community was a big part of it. That was the theme that got Dave and I together in this venture. The journey in this direction has opened a whole new perspective for us on conscious capitalism and environmental responsibility.  We can’t help but notice and try emulating other businesses and initiatives in this direction. Here are links to some earlier blogs from Dave on some of the businesses we admire

http://commonsoles.com/more-on-our-favorite-social-ventures.html

In my recent trip to India, I was finding to my amazement quite a few small businesses advocating or practicing recycling. Though some are purely for commercial reasons, nevertheless any positive impact on the environment is a plus.  Here are some examples found

• A local Apparel store in Vijayawada that takes old Zari saris (saris with embroidery done with gold thread), recycles the saris and gives a discount on new purchases.
• All the EVA waste from Sharada industries is bought by other local manufacturers of EVA who recycle the EVA and produce inexpensive EVA foam for low end market.
• The new rubber soles with jute particles we are procuring from a manufacturer in Agra also has recycled tire particles.
• Boxes and other paper products have close to 60% recycle material in them.