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The Evolution of the Greenheart Shop-
The Greenheart Shop was opened in Chicago in October
2007 under its parent organization, Center for Cultural Interchange
(CCI), a not-for-profit cultural exchange organization. CCI was founded
in 1985 on the belief that increased cultural interaction and
understanding is necessary for creating a peaceful world. After
witnessing the world’s rapidly changing environment, CCI realized the
need to incorporate an environmental and social justice mission into
its overall operations, and thus the Greenheart initiative was born.
While the Chicago Greenheart initiative only began in 2005, the
original "Greenheart" initiative was actually started in Ibiza Spain in
the mid 1990's by CCI's founders Emanuel Kuntzelman and Laura Rose and
a group of environmentalists living on the island of Ibiza, Spain. In
1996, the "Greenheart" was created as a symbol of love and respect for
the planet and its people. From that point forward, Greenheart
blossomed all over the island of Ibiza with emerging projects designed
to create harmony between people and planet. The main activities in
Ibiza include the Casita Verde- a model ecological center, a school
environmental education program, and the very first Greenheart fair
trade shop, which opened in July 2006. If you were to visit Ibiza
today, you would see hundreds of cars sporting the Greenheart sticker
as a sign of their earth-loving ways!
After supporting a multitude of Greenheart projects in Ibiza for
several years, Emanuel and Laura decided to bring Greenheart to the
U.S. through their organization, Center for Cultural Interchange. They
began by opening up the Greenheart Shop, Chicago's first eco fair trade
store, and have incorporated the values of environmental conservation
into all of their programs. Through these initiatives of CCI and
Greenheart, international students visiting the US can partake in
various environmental and volunteer opportunities with their US host
families or employers, Americans traveling abroad are able to volunteer
on environmental and social projects in over 13 countries, and
consumers have the option to purchase ethically made items and educate
themselves about fair trade through the Greenheart Shop. In addition,
CCI as an organization has made radical changes to be as carbon neutral
as possible and incorporate the values of fair trade within all their
day to day operations.
You can support Greenheart here at our online Fair Trade store or at our Fair Trade shop in Chicago. We thank you for your support!
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