Shoes!

Yeah so, I've been wearing slip on vans since the 9th grade ( lace up vans before that) and i figured, since i was getting along in age, that i should try a different shoe, a different style, if you will. On top of wanting to change my footwear style, I also wanted to make sure that my new shoes would be "eco" friendly and made in a non sweat shop environment, preferably in the U.S.A. SO, i began to do some research and found out about the SIMPLE shoe company http://www.simpleshoes.com/index.aspx

The site explains that their shoes are made out of recycled products, organic cotton and or hemp. However, I was a little skeptical becuase the site did not explain where the the shoes were actually manufactured.
http://www.simpleshoes.com/About/factoryCharter.aspx?g=about

It kinda bothered that I didn't know who was making the shoes. I wanted to get away from mystery fabrics and factories. My Vans where made in China, thats all I know about them. "Simple" shoes are made of "eco" friendly stuff... thats all i know about them.

I think a big part about being environmentally aware is BEING AWARE of where things come from, what its made out of, who makes it and how it is made.

Its just like those cloth bags that they sell in supermarkets.... are they really doing the environment much help? Couldn't you just reuse paper bags? And when the paper bags wear out you could recycle them, eh? Most of those bags are probably made in sweat shops! Right? (note to self, do more research on cloth bags)

In the end, I might just go on as usual... driving my Vans into the ground before buying a new pair. (not to self, look up shoe recycling center)

American Apparel should make shoes.