The brand is headquartered in Brighton, UK, and also produces in facilities locally there. They also conduct production in other facilities, limited to within Europe. They work closely with their facilities to ensure ethical and environmentally friendly workplace practices. Furthermore, they also provide the details of most of the material suppliers which makes it easy for consumers to verify the sustainability of the materials, but not all.
Vegetarian Shoes uses many vegan leather alternatives such as fruit leather, however this means that they also use synthetic materials which may not be the best for the environment. They also use hemp and cotton, which are biodegradable materials, and nylon which is a semi-synthetic material. The brand also avoids chrome tanning and other harmful finishing and tanning chemicals.
Manufacturing and sourcing from within Europe also reduces transportation emissions by a lot. The brand however does not mention specifics of the transportation methods, nor their packaging materials.
Footwear is generally an easily disassembled product, hence at the end of use the shoes can be taken apart and recycled separately. Hence, the vegan leather made of synthetic materials can be mostly recycled, and the fruit leathers can be biodegradable.
The brand is headquartered in Brighton, in the United Kingdom, and conducts its production and sourcing locally and within Europe. This keeps the supply chain quite short. However, they do not mention transportation methods, which would make a big difference to the emissions, regardless of the length of the supply chain.
Although named “Vegetarian Shoes”, this brand is completely vegan, as can be attested by the mostly vegan employees working under the brand.
Vegetarian Shoes has been operating since 1990, hence it has proved itself to be a timeless and valued brand. They make durable products out of vegan leather, and also provide maintenance tips and materials for the products to be kept in use for as long as possible.
COSH! approves of this brand’s efforts at transparency, as they state in detail all their materials used and sourcing facilities, however they could provide more detail regarding their manufacturing facilities and their process in ensuring ethical workplace practices. Vegetarian shoes would do well to provide certification proofs for their materials, as many of their vegan leather products are sourced from certified suppliers, which would add another level of credibility in the eyes of the conscious consumer.
Conclusion
Are you looking for ethical shoes that give you the same feeling and comfort as leather? Look no further than Vegetarian Shoes!
