OLIVE EARTH

In July 2009 sportswear giant Nike Inc. said it will stop using leather from cattle raised in Brazil's Amazon rainforest, to show its commitment towards reducing deforestation. In September 2009 Timberland Co announced two footwear collections fashioned from rubber recycled from discarded tires, that got launched this year and hit the stores last month.  It is also possible to find styles from outrageous heels to rugged work boots in eco-friendly designs. El Naturalista , Zoe and Zack are working with the mission of ensuring the accessories adorning our feet are high-end designer shoes, yet are environmentally responsible.

A wide range of shoe designs, cuts and styles can be produced in a whole new way - making the practice of making shoes and buying shoes a lot more sustainable. So what exactly are co-friendly shoes, how should you go about buying them, where do you find them in India and what do you go about buying them. Below are some pointers:

The ecofriendly shoes can be classified based on the material used or the processes deployed and fall into three broad categories. Eco-friendly material used could promote use of vegan products or promote the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle.  The processes promoting sustainability could be around manufacturing processes, labor practices and energy practices of organizations producing these shoes.

Vegan shoes: These are shoes that shun the use of animal leather. Traditionally leather, extracted from animals was the only product used in manufacturing of shoes. This continuous use of leather resulted in a threat to the bio-sphere and the larger ecosystem. These are primarily Synthetic Shoes, Other Vegan Materials, natural rubber and recycled products which do not contain animal tissues. Also often the extensive use of leather leads to deforestation. Study shows that over 70% of the rain-forest deforestation in Brazilian Amazon is due to cattle ranching. A buyers group including Clarks International Ltd, New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc, Nike Inc, Puma, The Timberland Company, and other stakeholders called The Leather Working Group, agreed in September last year(2009) to a sustainability protocol to ensure that the origin of the materials within their supply chain is known and traceable back to the meat packing plant where the hides originated eventually.

Eco-Shoes - These are shoes, which can be recycled and reused and are made from eco friendly material like recycled rubber, recycled plastics, waste products, textiles, and other synthetic products.  Organizations like Timberland which proudly position themselves as the pioneers in eco-friendly shoes, have invested in creating more sustainable ingredients for shoes. An example of such innovation is the Green Rubber technology that creates a new source of rubber compound made from waste tires through a non-toxic, environmentally conscious de-vulcanization process called DeLink.  Green Rubber manages the tire waste that can now become both a commercially viable and eco-conscious process while reducing our land-fills. Responsible companies are doing creative things to ensure more shoes are recycled. Owners have the option of returning the Earthkeepers shoes to Timberland stores to be recycled. Soles4Souls facilitates the donations of shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Shoe companies, retailers, and individuals can donate footwear (both new and used).  The charity distributes these shoes to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away nearly 12 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every 7 seconds.) The shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States.

The eco-shoes use cradle to cradle design principles so that even after they are worn out – they can be disassembled and recycled when they are worn out. Nike created its Nike Grind range by recycling old athletic shoes. Zipper pulls and buttons for athletic wear, promotional items, and some Nike shoes are made using Nike Grind under Re-Use a Shoe program by Nike. As per Nike, Grind is just one part of Nike 's vision of developing a closed-lop business model, where waste is minimized. The company seeks out sustainable raw materials, new ways to recycle and re-use old products at the end of their life cycles. Such practices will help to ensure that almost 70% of the components of the shoe can be kept for ending up in a landfill.