Simply sustainable Simple shoes

Credit: Simple Shoes

Tread lightly on the planet with sustainable footwear from Simple Shoes

While you might not have surfer Joe Curren’s prowess on the waves, slip on a pair of his surf-inspired sneakers (Careen for dudes; Cartweel for women) developed by Simple Shoes, and you’ll feel like a champ where the planet is concerned.

The 100-percent certified-organic sneakers are printed with pictures taken during Curren’s travels, and the inventive outsoles are fashioned from recycled car tires.

Simple Shoes launched its eco-friendly Green Toe collection in 2005, and the company continues to work toward fulfilling its goal of producing sustainable footwear.

This year’s great leap forward? Eliminating excess glue (just five ml of glue is used in each shoe) by stitching its shoe components with sewing machines instead.

The cushy footbeds on the Gumbo flip-flops are made from reclaimed scrap carpet padding, and the outsoles on the unbleached hemp CARload shoes are made from an amalgam of natural latex and recycled car tires. And what about that black stripe that gives the hemp shoe an urban edge? It’s made from a recycled inner tube.

Simple Shoes hasn’t shied away from incorporating unconventional materials in its collection: coconut shells become buttons on bags; cork, bamboo and wool are used for their natural sustainability; recycled plastic is used to make shoelaces; and foot forms and shoeboxes are crafted from 100-per-cent post-consumer recycled paper.

Simple Shoes

www.singleshoes.com Available at Spank Shoes and Gravity Pope in Vancouver.