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Seeing as I am such a fan of Toms shoes, I was ecstatic to hear that our very own local surf shop Outer Banks Boarding Company would be teaming up with Toms Shoes for their annual “One Day Without Shoes” event, and host a barefoot walk down to the beach.

If you are not familiar with Toms Shoes, they are an incredible company which promises

that for every pair of their shoes you purchase, one pair is donated to a child in need. One for One. The concept was started when the founder of Toms visited Argentina and noticed the kids had no shoes to protect their feet from injuries and related diseases from the soil.

Personally I felt this was an amazing idea, and like all new ideas-they need an army of supporters to really make a difference. With that in mind I decided to promote the event through all of our social media outlets and within Seaside Vacations. We decided to encourage everyone in the office to participate and spend the day barefoot. We also wanted to get some people out to the event here locally and take the walk out to the beach. It turned out to be a great event with local OBX musician Esther Faith performing and a crowd of supporters ready for the chilly walk, it was a blast!

There has been a lot of discussion since the ban on plastic shopping bags here in the Outer Banks. Many local businesses are claiming it is necessary to have plastic bags and they encourage the use of recycling those bags to their customers. Others believe this is a necessary step in protecting the natural environment here in the OBX, extending to our ocean, wildlife and reduced pollution.

But what do you think? Students from the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort are conducting an online survey on how citizens feel about the plastic bag ban in coastal counties. The Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce reports that the survey is part of a larger project researching environmental management.

Results of the survey will be published in a report, available on the Duke University website, but individual responses will not be published, the chamber said.

The bag ban went into effect in coastal areas of Dare, Currituck and Hyde counties in 2009 for larger retailers. It was expanded last year to include all retailers. This year a group of Republican lawmakers filed a bill to repeal the ban, claiming it has increased the use of paper bags which have their own effect on the environment, rather than encouraging the use of recyclable bags.

If you would like to give your opinion on the plastic bag ban, the survey can be found here.