Sustainable Futures is a local non-profit organization that provides vocational training in ‘green-collar’ jobs to incarcerated women. The jobs are focused on themes of renewal and sustainability, the same themes resonating with the women’s lives, as they work toward their own personal renewals and re-awakenings. Used bottles are recycled into beautiful new glassware, transforming disposed goods into treasure. Employees learn how to clean, cut, grind, polish, and sandblast the glass, breathing new life into the bottles. The glassware is then either sold to various supporting restaurants and retailers.

Offering much more than job training, the organization combines work with a curriculum of valuable life skills, providing those women entrenched in the correctional system every tool they need to emerge from their experiences with a strong sense of self worth and personal pride, to become functioning members of a supportive community. The curriculum while at Sustainable Futures includes stress management, mindfulness, nutrition, compassionate communication, and self-empowerment. With the right tools, those willing to change can break free of the limiting beliefs that keep the individual trapped in the endless cycles of self-sabotage.

Boise Co-op is proud to support this incredible organization, and will return all profits from the sale of the glassware back to Sustainable Futures through the holiday season. We currently offer single glasses, candles and gift packs, located at the front of Aisle 9, and a selection is offered at Boise Co-op Wine Shop. These make great Christmas gifts, and you can feel good about your supportive purchase, as all your money will be going directly to the women of Sustainable Futures.

To meet some of these incredible women, stop by the Co-op this Saturday from 1-4pm at the front of the store. The women will be on hand to graciously share their stories, their mission, and their work with the public, spreading messages of hope and renewal. Thank you for your support!