Recently, the athletic company, Reebok, turned their “eco-friendly” shoes vegan. In August, Reebok released a pair of shoes that were made from ‘bio-based’ materials including corn and cotton. (You can watch a short clip from Reebok explaining the reasoning and development of the sneakers here) These sneakers were a part of the conscientious effort to “create a broad selection of bio-based footwear that can be composted after use.” They advertised these sneakers as going from “dust to dust”, as they can be composted into soil that will grow the plants needed to ultimately create another pair of shoes.
Reebok’s Corn + Cotton collection.
However, since the release, animal advocates have taken notice to one specific detail in the sneakers: they contained a small leather patch on the heel and tongue. Reebok was attentive to the criticism and decided to get rid of the patch that used animal skin. Now, the sneakers are 100% vegan and the first ever 75 percent USDA certified biobased shoe, made with a 100 percent cotton upper and a biobased sole derived from corn.
What is “bio-based’? The USDA defines bio-based as deriving from organisms that were once alive, so plants and animals. Bio-based is an alternative to petroleum-based, and is more compostable and renewable. However, bio-based materials are not necessarily vegan and can contain animal by-products such as leather. On the other hand, 100% vegan shoes are not necessarily bio-based, compostable, or renewable, as they can be primarily made out of materials like rubber and plastic.
Although most companies don’t go so far as to make their shoes completely out of plants, several have released vegan shoes like Michael Kors, Doc Martens, Tory Burch, and more. Most sneakers and other types of shoes have leather or coated leather on them. Leather is made from animal skin–usually cattle but pigs, goats, sheep, and even crocodiles are used too. A common misconception about leather is that it is just a byproduct of meat production, however, leather is in high demand and therefore significantly contributes to the income of the selling of the animal’s body. So, it encourages more animals to be killed and sold. Some vegans and vegetarians consider buying leather goods second-hand to be a viable alternative as it does not directly increase the demand for leather.
As the first ever vegan and USDA-certified biobased sneaker, Reebok may be starting a new trend for other shoe companies. You may think owning vegan and biobased shoes is not effective in saving animals, but more than 20 billion shoes are sold worldwide each year, and in the US, 68% use animal products.
So, by supporting companies like Reebok who make the effort to reduce the amount of animal products being used, you can be making a change. Lowering the number of leather shoes you buy will lower the demand for it, and it will discourage people from killing as many animals for their skin. These shoes in particular are also good for the environment as no petroleum, a nonrenewable resource, is needed to make synthetic rubber or foam.