Sustainable shoes from two good shoe companies
January 11th, 2007 by Mollie
Both Simple Shoes and Keen have started sustainable shoe lines. So now you can cause less damage as you walk around this green earth or more accurately, you can keep more of the earth green as you walk around on concrete.
Green Toe shoes is Simple’s line of natural footwear for both men and women and is their “effort to minimize the ecological footprint left by shoes” (they also make a really cool feedbag). Some of the ingredients they use in making their Green Toe shoes are: water based cement, which is less toxic and has a less propensity to be a fire hazard than traditional cement; crepe/laytex collected from Hevea (rubber) trees once the tree has matured; cork, which is usually harvested from the Cork Oak tree and naturally has a large composition of suberin, a waxy mixture that is water, mold, mildew, and pest resistant substance; jute, a long, soft, shiny fiber from the jute plant that can be spun into long, course, strong threads; wool, a fiber spun from the fur of a couple different types of animals, most commonly sheep; and bamboo, a woody, perennial, evergreen plant whose fiber can be spun into fabric.
Read more about the Simple Shoe company to get educated on their mission and practices (this is a good habit to get into).
I found Keen’s Ventura shoes when I was at REI last week. The Ventura is a woman’s shoe that is 100% vegan (no leather, no glues), features an organic canvas upper, a foot bed made from a combination of cork and natural latex, a natural rubber outsole, and recycled eyelets. Keen is also committed to reducing packaging, reduced printing, and using sustainable materials. I am not sure why, but the Ventura shoes are not yet on Keen’s website so if you are interested in buying some you will have to either look online at REI or go into an REI store.
Read about the Keen company to get educated on their mission and practices. Also, check out the Keen Foundation and learn about what they are doing to help people and the planet.