What can hemp, cotton, rubber band and car tire make? A Simple Shoe, that's what.

I was introduced to these fun, recycled shoes by a friend, Jenny. The lucky girl lives here in Husker Nation working with the Navigators. But before she started rooting for the Huskers and pouring out her life to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln students, she attended the University of Kansas.

She tried telling people about her shoes here, but nobody seemed to understand how exciting it was to have tennis shoes made of recycled materials. You know, the type of shoes that help the environment and leave a smaller carbon footprint on the earth.

The company that makes these shoes, Simple Shoes, started making their shoes in 1991. Instead of being fancy and wasteful, these shoes put all types of recycled material into their shoe, including plastic.

The reason these inner hippie shoes were so exciting to Jenny was because in Lawrence, Kan., being green is the thing to do. It may be called a hippie town by its other Kansas neighbors, but that is all right, Lawrence likes it that way. The second you are in the town, you know it is different. Lincoln isn't quite as into the green movement or saving the planet. I am not saying they are mean, they are just different.

Now every day Jenny can wear her shoes and have a little piece of Lawrence with her. She helps the environment, and the environment gives her a piece of home. It's a win-win.