shoes
Simple Shoes: A larger footprint than I expected
Recently, I bought a brand new pair of toddler Simple Shoes for the Little One. They are stinkin adorable, and I liked, at first blush, the philosophy of the company…..at least the one printed on the box: It starts “with all of the overbuilt, over-hyped products out there, it’s pretty hard to find sustainable shoes that you can live with…..” Awesome! You’re speaking to me! It isn’t often that I buy new shoes simply for this reason – I do go out of my way to buy them second or third-hand when I need them, especially for the Little One, who will just outgrow them or wear them out beyond recognition in a month’s time.
It goes on: “HOW we make our shoes is just as important as WHY we make them. That means finding more sustainable ways of doing business so we can make a gazillion more”. Okay, okay, the gazillion figure is a little troubling, but still, you had me at ‘sustainable’. The salesperson at the store gushed about how Simple uses all recycled products in their shoe lines, ie soles made from rubber tires, and I am seriously digging this company. Maybe I’ll even buy a pair new for myself.
The shoes look great on the Little One. But about the third or fourth wearing, as I was putting them on his little feet, I noticed the sizing tag under the tongue of the shoe: “Made in China”. My heart drops. Simple, you lost me. I go on to wonder what else is hiding behind the philosophy of the Simple Shoe manufacturers. Recycled goods shipped to China, shoes made at a low low cost, shoes shipped back to the US? Honestly, this is a much larger (carbon) footprint than I imagined, especially given your marketing keywords. Please do not make a gazillion of them in this manner.
Back to the consignment shops I go.
