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Greenopia provides consumers with high quality information to help them reduce their impact on the environment through their daily purchasing decisions. Greenopia publishes extensive green business directories, product directories, and brand directories, as well as offering a growing community, news articles, blogs, and tips to help everyone eat, shop, and live green.
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8 Great Sustainable Sneakers (And How to Recycle Them!)
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by Katherine Butler Wednesday, May 13, 2009 |
News Archives |
Greenies like to run their sneakers into the ground. Why? Because we know all that rubber and plastic doesn’t come easy. And since huge sneaker manufacturers generally treat the earth like their own personal playground, we don’t like to keep on buying and buying. (Nike, I’m looking at you.) But there are options for those seeking sustainable sneakers. Check out our list of the top eco-sneakers you can find on the market.
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The Toemorrow from Simple Shoes gets the highest rating from Greenopia, garnering a four out of four green leaves. It is made from organic cotton, natural crepe, and held together with water-based cements. It is vegan, nontoxic, and shipped in environmentally friendly packaging. |
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The Veja is truly eco. Want a canvas made from organic cotton that comes from a cooperative of small producers who work in the Brazilian Northeast? Check! Looking for a sole made from Amazonia wild latex to fight against deforestation? Check and check! |
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Men and Women’s Ventura by Keen The Venturas are some cute canvas kicks for both men and women. With all-vegan sporty look, they have recycled aluminum eyelets, natural canvas uppers, and sustainable cork foot beds. |
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Do the scuffed-up heels of this shoe look familiar? That’s because they are formerly your old tires! Simple Shoes comes through again with another eco marvel, the ecoSNEAKS. As Simple tells us, “Given the inherent nature of use like this, some of the shoe bottoms are marked up a little.” Cool! Did we mention they are also vegan and made from organic cotton? |
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These adorable sneakers are perfect for the Farmer’s Market or just walking around town in a summer sundress. Made with hemp uppers, certified organic-cotton woven linings, and recycled car tire pedbeds, these kicks will beautify the feet of any eco goddess. |
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Women’s Original Court P.T. Grun by Adidas These kicks from Adidas are designed for less environmental impact and made from recycled canvas uppers. And we give props to an old-school shoe manufacturer doing something green with their product. |
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These awesome, colorful sneakers are made to be “street-wise class to cross trainers.” They are constructed with as much recycled materials as possible, using things from recycled soling materials to old coats and parachutes. This shoe is also made with minimum glue. And don’t worry, dudes. Terra Plana has a complete line of eco sneakers for men, too. |
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Women’s Willow Lace Up by Keds Keds recently introduced the Green Label, which are shoes for an eco cause. These classic kicks have uppers from organic cotton, shoe laces made from 100% recycled PET (yes, water bottles,) and insoles from recycled rubber. They also use 20% recycled rubber in the outsoles |
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What to do with your old running shoes?
You can easily spare your sneakers from a landfill burial. Recycled Runners is the web’s first national shoe recycling and donation directory. You can also buy a new pair of sneakers on the site’s retail partner, Zappos. Do you have a shoe donation program you want to get the word out on? The site has an easy way to add it to the directory. And best of all, each month Recycled Runners donates 50% of the proceeds of purchases made through Zappos to a featured Charity of the Month. Founder Dorian Quispe, an experienced marathoner, started the site after running the Inca Trail Marathon in Peru. As Quispe puts it, “After training and dedicating yourself to be a marathon runner, finding a green place for your shoes should be the easy part. Running is hard, giving is easy.”
Then there’s the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program. Yes, we know Nike can be an eco-devil with the sweatshops and mass production and more. Nonetheless, they’re making an effort to do some green good. If you’ve been on a playground lately, you’ve probably noticed the bouncy, rubbery material that is spread underneath the swing sets and monkey bars. There’s a good chance it is Nike Grind, and that you are bouncing around on someone’s old sneakers. How does this happen? Donate your old shoes and they will be “sorted and processed into three types of raw material: rubber from the outsole, foam from the midsole and fabric fibers from the upper.” This becomes Nike Grind, and this becomes part of a basketball court, track, field or playground.
>> Check out "Spring's Most Fabulous Eco Shoes" for more sustainable shoes!
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