What you wear on the soles of your feet shows your style. So what does it mean if you choose to wear vegan shoes?
In 2017 alone $246 billion dollars was spent by consumers on shoes. For 2018 the retail analytics company Edited reported that the vegan shoe market in America doubled in just one year, from 16% to 32%. Those two stats should make you realize that a major consumer shift is happening right now in footwear. Vegan shoes aren’t just an emerging trend, they are now a major focus in any shoemaker’s lineup.
Even so, there are still a lot of mysteries surrounding vegan shoes for most people. Here’s your opportunity to find out what precisely a vegan shoe is, the best kind of vegan shoes to choose from, and other answers that will help you make a more informed decision when you next go shopping for shoes.
What are vegan shoes?
In the simplest explanation, vegan shoes are footwear manufactured without the need of any materials made from animal ingredients, or byproducts of animals used for manufacturing.
This may mean that the vegan shoes or boots are made from wholly natural materials, like cork or pulped organic product, or made using synthetic leather or canvas materials.
How is synthetic leather manufactured and is it a friendly environmental choice?
There are many methods to make artificial, or synthetic, leather. Some are indeed more environmentally positive than others.
One of the better eco-friendly leathers is cork leather. This material is made from the bank of cork oak trees. By compressing the cork oak pulp a very similar in feel and look to leather can be achieved.
A less green alternative for synthetic leather are shoes made from plastic coatings. Typically these shoes have a fibrous base layer with a plastic coating overtop. These materials are typically referred to as polyurethanes or polyesters.
A leatherette shoe uses a fabric-base covered with a plastic to achieve a similar leather look/feel.
Is the shoe glue considered to be vegan?
More than likely yes. The majority of shoes manufactured today use synthetic chemicals in their glues. The costs of using such synthetic glue is cheaper and more economical than glue manufactured from the collagen of animals. Additionally, such synthetic glue is more durable and longer-lasting than collagen-based glues.
Which shoes are better for the environment, natural or vegan?
The answer really depends on how green you want to be.
Shoes using animal leather need to have their material chemically treated in the leathering process. This procedure requires using substantial chemicals like chromium, ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which can leech into the water table when the shoes are tossed away.
Artificial leather doesn’t require such chemical treatment, but certain shoes may still be manufactured with plastics.
There are shoes that are made to be as close to a 100% vegan philosophy as possible. If you are looking for these shoe brands, identify the following from the manufacturer:
- The material that the shoes and soles are made from
- The glues used in binding the shoes
- The lining of the shoes – do they use recycled materials or new material from an organic source?
- Whether they recycle leftover material from their manufacturing process
- The shipping container/packaging should also use recycled material
Are there 100% vegan shoes?
Yes. You can consider the following a true vegan shoe in that it is manufactured from natural products that were grown.
- Coffee tree shoes: Made from the trees that once grew the beans you drink your java from. Coffee leather shoes are indeed a real thing and supposedly smell pleasantly like a latte. Nat2 is a European shoe brand manufacturing this kind of streetwear.
- Teak tree shoes. These shoes are more lightweight in construction but are incredibly durable. Handbags and backpacks are also being made from these leaves.
- MuSkin shoes: Proving that where there’s a will there is a way, one of the newest new kinds of leather alternatives is being made from mushrooms. After the leathering process muskin shoes are very weather resistant and best of all, 100% biodegradable.
- Pinatex shoes: 300 billion pineapples are grown each year, leaving a lot of leftover husk behind. Now vegan shoe manufacturers are using that pineapple husk and pulping it into pinatex. You could slip a pair on and go climb a pineapple tree.
- Cork shoes: This sort of footwear has been around for a longer time, and so has been used by shoe manufacturers for a number of decades. However, with the growing share of eco-minded consumers, cork shoewear is being given new consideration by consumers.
Will my feet feel any difference between wearing a vegan shoe and a non-vegan shoe?
The answer is no. Vegan shoe manufacturing, even ones made from organic material and sewn by hand using organic thread, won’t feel any less (or more) better as long as the manufacture process was completed accurately.
If you think that your feel do feel better when wearing a pair of vegan shoes, it’s likely your brain at play! Your mind is aware of the ecological benefits of vegan shoes, so it’s likely a placebo effect happening (but you can still feel good about your choice of shoe!)
Should I expect to pay more for vegan shoes?
No. Prices for synthetic shoes and vegan shoes are all over the place, ranging from the affordable under $100 dollar pair of casual sneakers to $500 high-end heels. In the end it comes down to the brand that you’re choosing and the style.
Want to learn more about eco-friendly clothing choices?