It's not like we're claiming to be squeaky clean and green, just doing what we can to lessen our impact and not get too preachy about it. Regardless of how the message is being spun (and sorry to burst any bubbles here, kiddies, but), shoes suck when it comes to their impact on our earth's ability to suck them up and spit 'em back up out without any effect. And, regardless of the material from which they're made, the whole process is dirty, smelly and noisy..... Sure, some shoes are 'greener' than others, but normally those completely biodegradable shoes will only last a season or two and you're driving off to the shop to buy some more (or the delivery truck is stopping in front of your house with your eagerly-awaited purchase).
You get to pick your poison: dead dinosaurs, dead cows and pigs(mostly, unless you have very expensive taste!) or the nice sounding , but incredibly energy and water-intensive plant we view as innocuous: cotton (if you really want clean, go for hemp, at least!). We're trying to use as much chrome-free leather, as possible, but all leather production nasty business. So, how do we claim our points?
Sorry, again, but if you don't talk about the whole cycle of manufacturing and consumption, then you're only selling part of the story. We here at pskaufman... believe we minimize our impact first and foremost by making a kick ass, high-quality authentic product that's capable of lasting at least a few decades....maybe even long enough to get buried in (giving a whole new meaning to long-term, underground storage). However, if you did a good job raising your kids, they'll never let those shoes go and will continue wearing them themselves!
We believe we make that kind of product: using quality materials, making them with exceptionally high standards and production processes and stuffed with plenty o' style. With a killer combo like that we minimize 'consumption for consumption's sake' and our shoes continue in use while many lesser (and maybe even greener) shoes end up trashed, using fuel to get to the dump and probably never decomposing (if they can find a newspaper intact in a landfill after twenty years, odds are good a shoe will be at least the same!)
We make our shoes relatively close to home, at least a lot closer than the other 96% of shoes that come into this country! This minimizes fuel consumption, both in delivering the shoes and in developing the shoes. And just in case a tire may blow out on the way to our warehouse...that baby just might be featured on the bottom of your next shoe. You could say we live off our country's rubber roadkill.
And, speaking of roadkill, we use old tires to make our outsoles. Using our unique, protected LIGHTTREAD tm process is slow work and tedious, but at least there are fewer tires heading to our landfills, getting incinerated or just plain being dumped on our roadsides or waterways (besides, what other shoes will get you at least 30,000 miles!?). Big points for this, we think, but the real bonus points come from how comfortable the shoes become. Lightweight and flexible, walking in our shoes is a pleasure. So, maybe you'll even walk more and drive less! Two more points, mean team!
Lastly, thankfully, 'cause you have serious pain tolerance to have read this far, we try to use less of everything in packing and shipping our shoes, and in our offices. We're working on an exciting idea for a whole new way to package our shoes, using less paper and space in the process and lessen fuel use while we're at it. If nothing else, it will be like everything else we do.....considered, cool and different! Besides, the challenge is fun!