Women See A Need And Launch A Company

When they moved to Broken Arrow over three years ago, friends Peggy Klare and Vicki Gaines didn't know what to do with their recyclable refuse.

"We had both been recycling for several years, I in Tulsa and she in Oklahoma City, and we were surprised to find they didn't have it here, so she had the idea of starting our own company one day so, I said let's go for it," said Vicki Gaines.

That's how Gentle Earth Recycling was born.

"We started very simply with low overhead, bought a truck and a 16-foot trailer, had it compartmentalized for the different recycling items that we would be picking up. We started out in Broken Arrow, started slowly but it's been building consistently," said Vicki Gaines.

Gentle Earth now serves Broken Arrow, south Tulsa, Bixby and Owasso. The ladies say business has doubled this year. Residential service with bi-monthly pick up is $9.50. Vicki is building a business and feels she is doing her part to save the planet.

"Makes my heart feel good, and we take our recyclables to Midland Recyclables in Sand Springs, and they give us this little sheet at the end of each month that tells us how many trees we have saved, how much landfill space we've saved, and that feels really good. It showed that we had saved 50 trees with our recyclables. It's my little part in the big scheme of things that makes me feel good as a person helping out," said Vicki Gaines.

For more information on going green, click here.

By Chris Howell, Video Journalist. Find more of his stories in our Web Exclusives section.