The Ethics of Footwear…
Whew! Life has been kicked into major high gear these past few days! I am working 6 days a week plus planning for the impending move not to mention cooking and being a cat/bunny mom! Yesterday Maddie and I took a much needed break and enjoyed some of what our lovely little Carrboro has to offer.
One of the shining moments were these little babies right here:
vegan sandals woo hoo! These are Sanüks– 100% vegan, ethical, and comfortable to boot! Er uh, to sandal! Maddie and I have fallen head over heels for this company and I’m already fantasizing about a new pair of shoes for the fall… (If you have a wide foot like me these shoes are great!)
Shopping for some new shoes brought up several really good vegan issues for me as I searched for just the perfect pair. I had a much harder time than I anticipated weeding through all of the cute shoes at our local outdoors store. So many of them contain leather! (Even Toms, which I love, have leather soles even if most of the shoe is made from canvas. Only their shoes that are actually labeled “vegan” are well, actually vegan…)
Shopping around at a great local business that I love and still having trouble finding vegan shoes really got me to thinking about animal products in the things we wear. It was a great opportunity for me to show Maddie some of the ins and outs of uncovering hidden leather in shoes and other products. These days animals in consumables is almost a given. Shoe manufacturers are so good as disguising leather behind colorful prints, vinyl, and canvas that it’s hard for even the most trained eye to pick out the vegan from the unethical.
Maddie and I both wear old leather shoes from our pre-vegan days. Many of these were secondhand to begin with, either thrifted or given to us from family members as lucky cast offs in search of a new home. The new shoes we buy are ethical and vegan, and we try to get them as locally as possible. We’re still in talks about our feelings regarding recycled leather. Is it ethical or still representative of the systems we’re fighting so hard against? I really have mixed feelings on this subject. Part of me feels that recycling and not allowing materials to go to waste is the best option here, but part of me also feels unsure about wearing animal products at all- new or thrifted. By purchasing or receiving these products secondhand we’re still taking our dollars away from those larger systems that ultimately create a demand for animal based goods.
So is thrifted leather vegan or not? I’ve opened up the dialogue, now share your thoughts!
Bisous!
Rachel
Cool sandals! Personally, I ebayed all my leather shoes & boots when I became vegan BUT we have a part leather couch that we haven’t replaced – I have to say I hate sitting on it. I can’t stand the smell
So I would say no – I’d rather not have them, but it is a tricky point when you’re throwing out perfectly good items. My friend who has recently become vegan is using all her pregan stuff up first too. I guess like all of these things, you have to do what you are comfortable with. I tell you what though – I cannot WAIT to get rid of that sofa!! xx
I understand what you mean! A sofa is a big thing to have in your home that is made out of an animal product! I’m with you there! It’s a tough choice, but you’re right it really depends on an individual level of comfort. I know for sure I won’t buy new leather or other animal based products in the future, that’s for sure!
I still have all of my leather shoes from my “pregan” days. It didn’t make sense for me to throw them out when I could still get wear out of them. Shoe shopping just isn’t as fun for me anymore because I have such a hard time finding anything–especially dress shoes/heels, which I need for work. I have to resort to special ordering my shoes, and that’s always a gamble. I did try on a pair of sanuks a few months ago but didn’t wind up buying them–I wish I had, they were so comfy!!
Sanüks are incredible! They also have some dressier sandals that you might be able to wear for work! Check out their website! And thank you for the comment–it makes me feel better to know I’m not alone in my choices!
We have leather, shoes, couches and belts from our pre-vegan days. The couches were secondhand. I personally feel that giving these things away to others and buying new isn’t necessarily better for us or the environment. New products tax the environment too, vegan or not. So I think that for these Items I think we are going to keep until they wear out. What is that phrase? “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”? That seems ethical to me. I will not be purchasing leather in the future though and I’m not really sure how I feel about recycled leather.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
And thanks for sharing yours! You raise good points about the production of new items here! We try to thrift as much as possible to reduce that part of the environmental impact equation, but getting rid of things we already have isn’t necessarily sustainable.
Great point, we have taken to trying to buy most things that we need now through thrift shops or classified ads, not only is it a better deal, but we are reducing the impact of new production. Win win!
love those sandals!! and your raw key lime pie looks incredible! yum!
lovely sandals!! Really cute!! Nice blog!
Thank you so much! You are very sweet to say that!