Women love shoes. It’s pretty much proven fact.

However, Vivanista women love one thing more than shoes–making a difference for the better! And with so many eco-friendly and vegan shoe companies emerging, with cute, hip and more importantly, sustainable styles, this could end up being the most successful love triangle ever!

There are many different elements that qualify a shoe as being eco-friendly. Shoe companies may use organic cotton, environmentally green factories for production, animal free products (vegan shoes), recycled materials, or a charitable aspect where some portion of inventory or revenue is donated to a cause. With more and more green or vegan shoe companies emerging, or with well established shoe companies coming out with eco-friendly lines, such as Ked’s Green Label, let’s take a look at some of these brands, and what efforts they’re making to produce sustainable, earth saving shoes.
Everybody knows TOMS; a brand of shoes that gives pair to a child in need for every single pair that is purchased. Started by entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie, TOMS shoes became revolutionary in their extensively generous promise.

“…Having shoes helps someone with their personal security and understanding. It gives them self-worth. It shows that they’re valued. Its almost a sense of wealth in these communities, ” Mycoskie explained to TreeHugger Radio.

While the original TOMS shoes were already fairly sustainable, made from canvas, TOMS is now producing a vegan option. Made from scraps of EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) for soles and sometimes including levity textured twill, hemp and recycled plastic bottle, the new vegan shoes take philanthropic fashion to the next level, with the brand not only helping out children in need internationally, but also using “greener” materials to be eco-friendly. Classic non-vegan shoes vary in price but average at about $50.00 a pop, and vegan shoes just a little pricier, at $54.00

“Being Vegan isn’t about depravity or lack of style, its actually very feeling and creative,” explained creator Elizabeth Olsen in an interview with NEET Magazine. Olsen discussed how her brand of vegan shoes was not just about being animal-friendly, but also about revealing the truth about the various abuses in shoe companies. A vegan herself, one of the main reasons she chose to start a shoe company that also was vegan, was to avoid getting involved in the livestock industry, which, Olsen explains, is the number one contributor to global warming, pollution, water supply contamination and land devastation. Clothing from animals, such as leather products or fur, are also incredibly bad for the environment, in addition to obviously being cruel to the actual animal, because the material is treated with chemicals, which prevent it from being biodegradable.

“…The creation of Olsenhaus was about filling the need for stylish vegan footwear, but, even more important, I created it to be a vehicle for exposing the truth about animal treatment, the leather industry, and the resulting environmental damages,” said Olsen. “I wanted to show that one could be conscious and still lead a fabulous lifestyle, with rad shoes!”

While TOMS took a simple, inexpensive farmer shoe design from Argentina, the alpargata, and made it a hipster trend, other eco-friendly brands, such as OlsenHaus, focus on various different styles and vogue looks while also keeping it vegan. With brands like OlsenHaus, being natural with fashion doesn’t mean having to wear your birthday suit, or dress in frumpy hemp clothing. With materials like recycled upper material from TV factory waste, cotton canvas, velvets and soon-to-come recycled tires for soles, Olsenhaus is producing fashionable and cute shoes, while remaining animal free, though admittedly this comes at a fairly high price with a cute pair of strappy sandals at just a little under $200.00.

Animal-friendly footwear company Neuaura shoes, like TOMS, is working in multiple ways to be environmentally conscious. In addition to making footwear free of any animal products including pearls, silk, wool and shells (some materials that might not immediately come to mind as animal products in comparison to leather and fur), Neuaura also donates portions of its proceeds to charity, and uses a South Brazilian eco-friendly factory.

“Every year, we try to do what we can to make the shoes more green,” founder and lifetime vegetarian Arti Upadhyay explained. “I think green and vegan go hand in hand.” Like Olsenhaus, stylish vegan shoes come at a price, but considering the effects, it doesn’t seem to be much to ask. While many of the shoes start off at around $100, sales prices are very reasonable, with a cute pair of pumps only being $50.00. Also, if purchased online, 10% of the proceeds are given to two different charities, which vary from year to year. This year, Neuaura chose to donate to Farm Sanctuary, which works to raise awareness about cruelties towards farm animals as well as rescuing these animals, and the Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey, which offers shelter for all types of abused, ill, elderly, or abandoned animals, from exotic to farm, all within New Jersey.

The Brazilian factory Neuaura chose to produce their shoes is eco-friendly, being part of a union highly monitors the separation of waste in order to ensure that materials will be reused and recycled. “I chose the factory because it’s eco-friendly,” explained Upadhyay. “The area of Brazil that the factory is located in is a very green area with lots of ecotourism.” The factory also uses a green certification seal, which can be seen on Neuaura shoeboxes, and ensures that the shoes were produced in a green environment.

With so many options for stylish, philanthropic shoes, why not chose clothing with a cause?

Blogs such as greatgreenshoes.com can be very helpful for first-time eco-friendly shoe shoppers who want to find something that suits their style. Like any other nonprofit or charity one might consider getting involved with, environmentally-friendly shoe companies should be researched as well, to see if their mission and production matches the goals of the consumer. However, this research tends to be a little more fun because it is, after all, shopping!