Greenest Gladiators in Town
by Bonnie Alter, London on 04.15.08
Are these the greenest sandals ever--aside from bare feet, of course... Sold at Topshop, every part of them is fairtrade, ethical, sustainable, and made by rural community groups with the profits being poured back into the local area. While not perfect, Topshop has already introduced ethical jewellery and clothing into their stores. And btw, the gladiator look is sooo fashionable this season.
The details: The leather top parts are made of vegetable-tanned leather, they are coloured using vegetable dyes and tree bark by members of a Northern Indian community, with the profits going back to them. They make the soles too, using only leather from cows that have died naturally. The fabric straps are 100% natural jute from a village in West Bengal with the profits to be spent on schools. The construction: the shoes are put together in a small assembly unit in a poor area in Delhi that hires elderly workers at good wages. The packaging: the box is made from recycled paper by an organisation that hires former drug addicts and those with HIV. The price: £45 ( $89) and worth every penny. :: Topshop Via :: Evening Standard
being that theyre made in West Bengal, I don't think they qualify for "greenest sandals ever" in the United States. I think the sandals I've seen made lcoally from 100% post-consumer goods were the greenest sandals.
The fact that they are made with leather pretty much cancels out anything 'green' about them. Breeding animals for fashion/functionality is the biggest waste of the world's dwindling food supplies and causes some of the worst pollution via toxins in stormwater runoff. And most importantly, do you want the skin of dead animal on your feet badly enough to support the oppression of living creatures?