Barefeet for Happy Homes

Remember being a kid, running through a fresh-cut lawn, nature's fertile ground cushioning your feet? Those days are back and for much more reasons than comfort. The overall health of your home, your family, and your feet are dramatically improved by walking barefoot. In fact, many cultures have been practicing this tradition for thousands of years, in particular, many Asian countries. At first they did this because of the poor quality of public walking areas and streets as well as their sleeping, sitting, and eating accomodations, which were usually on the floor, making it understandable as to why the footwear stayed outside. But even now, with much improved pavement systems and raised Western-style furniture, the tradition remains.

Shoes transfer large amounts of bacteria, toxins, pollutants onto the interior floors which gets circulated throughout the home. Walking barefoot also benefits the health of your feet tremendously. It is much healthier for the skin of the feet because rubbing points on shoes and sandals can leave callouses, bruises, and chafing, as the feet are naturally aired and circulated, the risk of fungal or bacterial growth (athlete's foot) is much lower. In addition, the overall structure and strength and agility of your feet will be improved by barefoot walking. Footwear hinders the full capacity of your feet's movement, bounce and flex, creating weak muscles, bones and ligaments.

The act of simply taking off your shoes can have tremendous outcomes, not only for the health of your feet but as well as the air circulation and quality within your home. So kick off those shoes and let your feet and family reap the benefits of going barefoot!

It's Raining, It's Porous!

Excessive stormwater runoff is one of the most detrimental effects that urban development can have on the natural environment. The journey rainfalls take to get to the ocean from the concrete city surfaces are quite extensive; from the driveways to the gutters to the main line to the oceans. And all along the way, picking up hazardous chemicals such as tar, oil, gasoline, etc. Moreover, little of this runoff is left to replenish the groundwater supply.

Solution? Porous concrete surfaces, also known as pervious or permeable concrete surfaces, address these issues by allowing rainwater to flow underneath the surface to ensure a healthier groundwater supply. These surfaces also create a lesser demand for retention ponds and other stormwater management devices. Flow rates through pervious concrete surfaces can be as much as 5 gal/sq. ft. within a 1 minute time period! Porous concrete surfaces are almost identical to conventional concrete surfaces despite the fact that the fine aggregate is eliminated entirely and the size distribution of the coarse aggregate is kept narrow, allowing and maintaining the hardened properties in concrete that we need to support our massive structures, homes, and automobiles. For more information about this amazing concrete alternative, please visit Pervious Concrete Inc., one of America's largest installers of pervious concrete surfaces.