Po-Zu Ethical and Eco Friendly Shoes

I am slowly converting to living a more sustainable life and trying to reduce the impact that my fashion and clothing habit has on the environment and the people involved in clothing manufacture. One area that I have not yet really considered properly until now is shoes.

I have only just discovered the huge ethical issues and environmental impacts associated with shoe manufacture. I have always insisted on wearing leather shoes almost exclusively assuming that they were the most natural choice and as a by product of the meat industry leather did not really have too much impact. But leather does have a huge impact on the environment, the people making it and the the people living in the vicinity. The process using very toxic chemicals and causes pollution and illness in those working and living near the tanneries.I never really considered wearing synthetic shoes but these are also bad for the as their manufacture is energy intensive and uses non renewable resources, also they are not easy to dispose of after their useful life is over.

One of the reasons that I have not paid too much attention to ethical and eco friendly shoes is that, I have never really found any that I have liked, until now that is. Po-Zu shoes have just launched a new online shop selling a great range of ecological and ethical shoes that have previously only been available through established Po-Zu stockists.

The shoes are handmade ethically in Portugal using sustainable materials like hemp and cork or vegetable tanned leather. The soles are made from natural latex with a really comfy coconut foot mattress to give your weary feet a break. You can really feel good about shopping for these as 3% of the money goes to your choice of either the Environmental Justice Foundation or World Land Trust and you can even recycle the box and use it as a seed tray.

The summer collection includes some delicate sandals or more chunky pumps in some great colours, perfect for everyday wear. My favourites are the quirky cork pumps (pictured above). I also love the red peep toe shoes (also pictured above).