The veganism movement is gaining a foothold all across our planet. As much as most people would love to hate vegans, some messages that veganism promotes are very sensible. The torture of animals for our benefits is not pleasant, regardless of whether it is classed as “humane” or not.
Vegan footwear manufacturer, Scoots has debuted their very first shoes made using cork, corn, and pineapples. The slip-on will be available in four color variants – oatmeal, charcoal, chocolate, and paprika. They will feature a pineapple-made upper, a corn-based leather, a cotton lining of the canvas, and an organic rubber sole with cork. The leather used is sourced from another brand called Pinatex.
The company also claims they will plant one tree in Tanzania for every pair of shoes they sell.
The shoes will be prepared by artisans based in Portugal.
The manufacturers will employ the use of the Strobel construction method, which is generally used in making athletic sneakers. The construction will make the shoes flexible and comfortable to wear.
The founder of Scoots, Dave Costello says that we should not confuse plant-based footwear with vegan footwear. It is true that “vegan” footwear don’t use any animal products. But they make use of EVA – ethylene-vinyl acetate, TPU – thermos-polyurethane and PU – polyurethane. These materials can take several centuries to breakdown and make use of harsh chemicals during manufacturing.
The replacement of these synthetic “vegan” supplies with the plant-based ones will ensure a better future with much lesser waste. The shoes are 100% vegan but are capped at 95% plant-based for the time being. There are ongoing efforts to make them 100% plant-based by this year.
The shoes will be offered for purchase after their full-fledged launch at e-commerce stores by this year’s end. For the time being, Scoots will be sold through Kickstarter.
All these little initiatives are certainly paving the way to a greener future, one step at a time. But all of us together can make much greater and meaningful changes. Let’s support green products like these so that the future generations still have a habitable planet.