THE BENEFITS OF ECO-FRIENDLY SHOES

By Grow and Make Editor Chris Clark

For a wealth of green living tips, tutorials, and articles, click The Green Home Guide at Grow and Make.

Our Guide to Green Design is full of good ideas.

In the past the best choice for eco-friendly shoes was to go barefoot but today there are choices that range from high tech to vegan with everything in between. But with so many shoe choices why should you take the time to choose an eco-friendly shoe?

Traditionally shoes have been made of leather. It is a sturdy material and has been around as long as there have been shoes. Athletic shoes sometimes use leather but more often are made of canvas, nylon or synthetic materials. The soles generally feature some type of synthetic rubber.

There are many different types of eco-friendly shoes. Some, like Ethletic Footwear, feature some of the same materials as traditional shoes but are manufactured with organic cotton, innovative technologies to reduce waste and packaging and use renewable and recycled materials whenever possible. Some things you will find are bamboo blend lining fabric, “regrind” rubber soles (made from recycled rubber) and water-based glues for construction.

Other brands like Simple Shoes use materials like organic cotton canvas, recycled inner tubes and tires and paper pulp which creates what is commonly advertised as a vegan shoe because it uses no animal products or byproducts.

You can also find shoes made with hemp, bamboo, synthetic leathers and wood from eco-friendly shoe companies. One similarity in the majority of eco-friendly shoes is the reduction of resources. Shoes are made from renewable materials in ways that use less energy and fewer materials. Many are also shipped in more eco-friendly ways and have reduced packaging designs.

The best part about new eco-friendly shoes is that they look more like traditional shoes every year. In the past eco-friendly shoes might have literally had a crudely cut piece of a stiff used tire attached as the sole. Now, many might retain the tread design of the tire but the flexibility and look of it is much more what we are used to seeing in shoes. I once purchased a pair of sandals with one of those crudely cut tire soles and let me tell you, it was very uncomfortable to walk because the sole was so extremely stiff. That is no longer a problem with brands like END, Ethletic and Simple.

If you have not tried greener shoes before it is definitely something to consider. The average traditional running shoe contains many synthetic materials that are not very eco-friendly. The companies making sustainable living shoes are taking the time to rethink those materials as well as trying to use less and be more responsible to the Earth overall.

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