What a perfect time for a shoe sale.  Simple Shoes is currently offering many of their popular styles at special clearance prices – and we are talking dirt cheap here!  Boys Innertube shoes and the adorable GT Janie for girls are each marked at $8.99 and Skippies are just $7.90.  And while you are at it, grab a pair for yourself and baby. 

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Cliff has lots of supporting fans who took the time to write sincere favorable comments with their votes. A few of many testimonials follow.

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The company makes many different types of shoes, but the Terra Plana collection is the most traditional “green” and design students are paying close attention. Features to expect:

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The German Birki’s brand offers a large vegan all-age shoe collection that ranges from cork sandals to water-friendly clogs, and lots in between. Those special footbeds are made of cork, ALPRO®-cell or ALPRO®-foam, which are terrific shock absorbing materials.

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“The environmentally sensitive sandal is ethically made in Brazil in a closed loop system so there is no waste. The Gladiator is made from recycled MEFLEX plastic and provides amazing comfort for your battle weary feet.”

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Matt converted a small farm of mountains, trails and streams into the Wicked Footwear headquarters where new designs are developed and tested. The Wicked Hemp division turned global August 2008. And a new wood pulp and hemp collection was created with projected deliveries soon, ‒ mid 2009.

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Not only are “green” resources more available today, there are authenticity and certification programs, as well as trace systems that track from field to retailer. Simple Shoes is a business with deserved admiration for establishing sustainable material suppliers through a combination of programs. They appropriately describe themselves as a “nice little shoe company getting in touch with its inner hippie.”

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This is about more than recycling - it is also about safety and health. When someone in a developing country doesn’t have shoes, they could step step on something that causes infection, and even death. According to AboutMyPlanet,

There are plenty of people in Canada and the United States who need shoes, and they provide those shoes. In fact, after the large disasters of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita and the Asian Tsunami, Soles4Souls donated over one million pairs of shoes.

Of course, not every pair of old shoes qualifies! Kids grow out of shoes really quickly, though, and almost everyone has a pair of shoes in their closet that they just don’t like or wear often. Consider recycling them with Soles4Souls.

Picture via sxc.hu.

Leather manufacturer ISA Tan Tec will spend $8.7 million on its new, Vietnam-based tannery aimed at producing leather using fewer resources than industry standards. The German/Chinese company was founded by CEO Thomas Schneider, who said that the demand from its clients for ecologically friendly leather is increasing rapidly. The Ho Chi Minh City location, set to open in mid-2009, will have 280 employees churning out two million square meters of leather a year, supplying companies including Timberland, Rockport, New Balance, Simple and Hush Puppies.

The Vietnam facility will employ many of the same resource-saving and energy-cutting procedures in place at its tannery in Guangzhou, China. At that location, in a span of 18 months, the company reduced electricity used for retanning by 76 percent and reduced heavy oil use by 28 percent.

The company’s overall process for making its Low Impact To the Environment, or LITE, leather uses 30 percent less energy and 50 percent less water, and emits 35 percent less carbon dioxide, than industry standards derived from the British Leather Technology Center. The company’s LITE concept calls for continuous monitoring of the company’s energy and water use. The amount of water used is recorded daily and the company analyzes it for where they can make reductions.

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A few weeks ago, while engaged in my daily blog perusal, I came across these shoes on ecofabulous. I think I may have started to drool. I wished that some day, should the shoe gods smile upon me, I would get to try them on, perhaps on my next trip to one of the coasts. Imagine my surprise and delight, then, when I found them at Shu Global Footwear, just up the road in St. Paul, MN! Obviously, I had to try them on (and a few other pairs from the line for good measure).

Before I talk about my shopping trip, I should let you know a bit about why these shoes, made by El Naturalista, are indeed eco-fabulous. Although they use leather, which will not impress vegans, the company engages in the highest standards of pro-environment business practices. They use natural materials and dyes, including many that are biodegradable and recycled/recyclable. They use the least amount of chemicals possible to treat the leather, and on top of all of that, they fund the building of schools and other resources for children in Peru.

And then there’s the whole part about how they feel on your feet.

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As Kwanzaa descends upon us its seven principles, or Nguzo Saba, are brought to mind. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to improving ourselves and the larger community through good deeds, collective work, responsibility, creativity and purpose. Occasionally fruits or hand made gifts are exchanged, but the holiday is primarily a time of self-reflection, unity and personal growth.

Today as I was cleaning out my closet I was especially struck by the second Kwanzaa principle of Kujichagulia, or self-determination. It encourages us to forge our own path, to define, name and speak for ourselves through creativity. I thought of Muntadhar al-Zaidi, whose passionate shoe throwing spoke such volumes. I looked at my sad worn out shoes and was immediately inspired to create a personal Kwanzaa gift for him; and I will send them both to him, if he is ever released from prison.

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The original content we did publish was great stuff, of course.  Take a look below, and see a few of the goodies from March (and not a single post on green beer!).

March 2008

• Maria Surma Manka took a look at the Saudi’s interest in solar power.
• Victoria Everman reviewed online shopping guide thepurplebook’s green edition.
• Kyle Weatherholtz examined issues with wind power in Texas.
• Carol McClelland profiled some intriguing green companies.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/12/21/the-twelve-days-of-sustainablog-dumpster-diving-online-shopping-and-hand-towels/feed/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/10/08/toms-shoes-buy-one-donate-one/ http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/10/08/toms-shoes-buy-one-donate-one/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:32:33 +0000 Amiel Blajchman http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/10/08/toms-shoes-buy-one-donate-one/ TOMS Shoes: Shoes for Tomorrow, based in Santa Monica, California wants to give its products away. And you can help.

When TOMS’ founder Blake Mycoskie went to visit Argentina on vacation, he discovered more than he expected. While touring, he was exposed to the Argentinean soft shoe called Alpargata. He was also challenged by the poverty he saw, including the villages with children who did not even have shoes. As a result, he decided to create an organization that would be able to fill the simple, but necessary, need of putting shoes onto the feet of children who needed them.

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]]> http://inspiredeconomist.com/2008/10/08/toms-shoes-buy-one-donate-one/feed/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/09/27/better-shoes-for-little-feet-simple-shoes/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/09/27/better-shoes-for-little-feet-simple-shoes/#comments Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:42:04 +0000 Jamie Ervin http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/09/27/better-shoes-for-little-feet-simple-shoes/

As colder weather approaches, we begin thinking about shoes for even the youngest feet. I have used and ADORED Robeez for my children. Now, we have a similar type of bootie with an earth friendly, sustainable footprint.

Even better news, Simple Shoes, the maker of the Infant’s Weebit (shown here in slate rose) also makes grown up shoes!

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]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/09/27/better-shoes-for-little-feet-simple-shoes/feed/ http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/08/13/flip-flops-get-a-new-lease-on-life/ http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/08/13/flip-flops-get-a-new-lease-on-life/#comments Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:34:00 +0000 Skye Kilaen http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/08/13/flip-flops-get-a-new-lease-on-life/ So, flip flops.  I don’t wear them, but you very well might.  Here in Austin, they’re everywhere, from McDonald’s to the nicest restaurants in town.  We’re a casual people.

(Yes, I ate at McDonalds!  I get one milkshake there about every four years!  Yes, I know it’s wrong!  I was having a really bad day!  I’m sorry!)

UniqEco is just one of the companies making crafts out of recycled flip flops, but I heart them the most.  The company was started in response to an ecological nightmare - discarded flip flops washing up on Kenyan beaches in vast numbers.  (Apparently, y’all flip flop wearers aren’t that concerned about what happens to your footwear - but since they don’t actually provide any protection for your feet, it kind of makes sense that you wouldn’t notice they were missing.)  The invading flip flop armada kept turtle mamas from laying eggs and baby turtles, if any, from getting back into the ocean.

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]]> http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/08/13/flip-flops-get-a-new-lease-on-life/feed/ http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/08/04/everything-old-is-new-again-on-dig-n-swap/ http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/08/04/everything-old-is-new-again-on-dig-n-swap/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:02:07 +0000 Autumn Wiggins http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/08/04/everything-old-is-new-again-on-dig-n-swap/ Clothing swaps are becoming ever more popular as we all look for ways to save money, and stay stylish. Add in the possibilities for DIY modifications, and you can whip yourself up an entirely new wardrobe for practically nothing. It’s one thing to trade among friends, or your local community, but what if people from all over the planet could participate in a 24-7 swap party from the comfort of their homes?

DigNSwap.com aims to be a catalyst for online clothing, shoe, and accessory trading. You simply upload photos of stuff you want to swap, and indicate a few attributes such as size, color, brand and condition. Then, you “dig” through what others have to offer using convenient category and tag based searching. When you find something you like, you can bid on it with items in your stash. If your bid is accepted, then you ship the items to each other. Pretty neat, right?

This site recently launched its beta release, and tapped CAGW to help get the ball rolling with participation. That means YOU can be among the first people to help build an online community that facilitates revamping fashion rather than trashing it. For those not familiar, “Beta” websites are, for the most part, fully functioning, but may have some bugs that need working out. Most site administrators encourage visitors to disclose glitches or issues with functionality during this period with hopes that tweaking will culminate an ideal end-user experience.

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]]> http://craftingagreenworld.com/2008/08/04/everything-old-is-new-again-on-dig-n-swap/feed/ http://feelgoodstyle.com/2008/07/12/terra-plana-reason-1-not-to-go-barefoot-this-summer/ http://feelgoodstyle.com/2008/07/12/terra-plana-reason-1-not-to-go-barefoot-this-summer/#comments Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:10:37 +0000 Courtney Carlisle http://feelgoodstyle.com/2008/07/12/terra-plana-reason-1-not-to-go-barefoot-this-summer/ I spied these gorgeous slingbacks from Terra Plana that are made with veg leather and a fabulous eye for style a few weeks ago and cannot get them off of my wishlist.

Very eco-chic indeed. The company sources locally when possible to minimize transportation cost and impact and uses recycled materials, like old parachutes for soles.

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]]> http://feelgoodstyle.com/2008/07/12/terra-plana-reason-1-not-to-go-barefoot-this-summer/feed/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/07/06/kids-aim-to-save-the-world-one-stinky-sneaker-at-a-time/ http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/07/06/kids-aim-to-save-the-world-one-stinky-sneaker-at-a-time/#comments Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:16:02 +0000 Shirley Siluk Gregory http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/07/06/kids-aim-to-save-the-world-one-stinky-sneaker-at-a-time/ Hats off — or would “shoes off” be more appropriate? — to all the kids across the U.S. who helped collect more than 10,000 used sneakers for recycling, setting a Guinness World Record at the same time.

National Geographic Kids magazine launched the shoe collection effort after publishing a special green issue last fall, with actress Cameron Diaz serving as a guest editor and campaign kickoff donor of two pairs of old shoes. Five members of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team also contributed used footwear for the cause.

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]]> http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/07/06/kids-aim-to-save-the-world-one-stinky-sneaker-at-a-time/feed/