Ethical shoes

Ever since we decided to go pescetarian, we've also made an effort to avoid buying material which necessitates the death of a mammal, like leather or fur that is not shorn. It is interesting to note though, that vegans go much further by avoiding wool and even silk. Apart from very specific types of silk, known as eri silk (or peace silk), other types of silk requires the boiling of silkworms before they turn into moths and chew themselves out of the cocoons, hence reducing the quality and quantity of the silk produced.

Of course, we kept all our existing leather products and are using them to death now. I think it will take a lot for us to bear to throw them away. I will probably find ways to repurpose or recycle it, or donate it to an organisation that has use for old leather products.

In the meantime, this presents somewhat of a challenge everytime we look for shoes. We were looking for a pair of walking shoes for Ed, and found that most men's shoes had leather. Contrary to some salespersons' pitch, it is important to note that suede is also leather - just the flesh side up for a velvet feel.

So to do your own sleuthing, it is useful to understand footwear symbols that are often provided either on the inside of the shoe or by the side of the box that the shoes come in. We basically avoided anything that had the hide-like symbol.

Another easier way, depending on where you are living, is to buy only from brands which are socially conscious, such as Ethletic or Adidas by Stella McCartney. They not only use only vegan-friendly material, they also ensure the production process is certified FairTrade. There are websites that do the work of checking through how ethical various brands are, so it may be worthwhile going to those sites before committing to a certain brand. As the Cambridge market is fairly small, we've not come across a shop in this area which focuses only on ethical shoes. Thankfully, online shopping in the UK is great, and often comes with free delivery.

#Ethicallivingshoes