Climate Strike and why our leather sandals help the environment
Today kick offs the Global Climate Strike. We are in a period of time where we are seeing and feeling the effects of human created climate change. To be more specific, we are seeing how our consumption habits, behaviours and attitudes from the past 150 years have shaped the environment we now live in. This includes the type of materials we use such as plastics through to things we consider non-negotiable such as air conditioning or buying new outfits, furniture or other miscellaneous items that are cheap and have little impact on your wallet but a big one on the environment.
It is great seeing more and more people being aware that we must do something about climate change however, it is important to realise that attending a climate change event is good but it’s not enough. It is our every day actions that result in true benefits to our environment. It means not getting a takeaway cup of coffee that will go immediately to landfill and won’t break down. It is about not buying sandals that can be “washed” in the laundry machine. Why? Because it means that these are probably made from a plastic of some sort so when you’re washing them, they will release micro plastics into the water ways. Moreover, once you have had enough of them and they are disposed of they will most likely never breakdown. Sorry if that makes you feel bad but this is one thing we have to stop. Hiding our heads in the sand and pretending that it is politicians or businesses that are the root cause of the problem. Collectively, we are in charge, we are the ones who choose what brands or products gain popularity or keep being produced. It is us who vote in political parties with specific policies that are for or against the protection of our environment.
For anything to really change, we have to change. We have to educate ourselves and our immediate circle to change their behaviour and educate them as to why.
We’ll start. We think our sandals are one of the best options out there because they are made from locally vegetable tanned, sustainably harvested kangaroo leather. That means that no chrome is used to tan our leather and the Australian tannery we use safely disposes of chemicals. As each country has different legislation and how they enforce it, it is hard for brands to ensure that who they’re working with is doing the right thing unless they go and inspect the factory they use. One thing you can do to make sure is to ask where the brand gets their leather from.
Yes, it does concern us that animals are killed for consumption but at this stage, we feel it is the most responsible material to use. We are aware of lab produced leather but it is not commercially available yet at a price that many consumers would be willing to pay for.
Furthermore, we use biodegradable satchels to ship our sandals in organic cotton (which we are switching to linen as it consumes less water to grow) so we don’t create more plastic waste. As much as unboxing has become an event for many people (looking at you Youtube), it’s actually really ridiculous. For 30 seconds of pleasure, you have most likely created permanent rubbish. Think about it.
Moreover, our sandals last. The first samples we made 2.5 years ago are still going strong. We use proper sole bend (what men’s shoes are made of) to make sure they last a very long time and won’t dissolve or develop holes. We have also provided a previous blog post about how to clean your leather sandals so they can stay looking clean. However, it is important to note that vegetable tanned leather does develop a patina of wear which we don’t have a problem with but you have to be aware of.
We also design our sandals to be timeless. We don’t design one season trends that are ridiculous but “of the moment”. So beyond wasteful and we’re sure our customers are not looking for that. Actually, no modern woman is looking for that. We are looking for designs hat compliments our style and makes use comfortable. It’s sad that recent fashion weeks have celebrated shoes that are PVC based because it is beyond irresponsible in this climate to be promoting this type of flash in the pan trend.
These are just a few of our thoughts on this beyond important topic and if you have any questions on how we make our sandals etc we are more than happy to answer them.