We’re happy to see so many wearable and fashionable eco friendly shoes popping up all over the place, especially these zany and unique ones. Featuring shoes made from recyclable waste, shoes that can bloom into gorgeous flowers once you no longer want to wear them, and even shoes that turn into a tent (above image!), our top 5 quirky and cool eco shoes are getting off on the right foot when it comes to innovative design.

OAT Shoes That Bloom

These supersleek and comfortable sneakers are completely biodegradable, from the hemp and organic cotton used in the uppers to the plant-based plastics that break down completely within 6 months. OAT shoes carry a sheet of paper infused with a wildflower mix in the tongue of the sneaker, meaning that you can bury the shoes once they wear out and watch them bloom into gorgeous blossoms of Snapdragons, Daisies, Black-eyed Susans, and Sweet Alyssum!

Walking Shelter by Sibling

These super quirky but unusually useful shoes essentially act as a human shelter stored within a pair of sneakers. A pink tent emerges from the net pockets at the back of the shoe, expanding to form and enclosure that relies on the wearer for support instead of tent stakes. Bizarre but cool, these sneakers are perfect if you’re stuck in the rain—maybe they just need some eye-holes!

Images: OATShoes, All Black,Hetty Rose, Afterheels, Sibling

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ColumnNike has proven that it can “just do it” when it comes to incorporating sustainability into its supply chain… or has it?

Not so long ago, the Nike brand was synonymous with sweatshops and child labor.

But over the past decade, it has successfully reinvented itself into a poster child for innovation and sustainability in the apparel industry. Under its Nike Better World campaign, it has launched game-changing initiatives like doubling its use of recycled polyester in apparel; starting the Reuse-A-Shoe program, which has turned 28 million old shoes into things like sport courts, tracks, and playgrounds; and creating the Nike Materials Index, which seeks to clarify the environmental impact of internal design decisions. And ostensibly, it has cleaned up its labor issues.

For many, it’s a rags-to-riches story – proof that it is possible for one of the largest shoe companies in the world to embrace social responsibility and still turn a hefty profit. If they can “just do it,” why can’t the rest?

The story, however, is slightly more complicated. This week’s return of Behind The Label looks at the good – nay, great – elements of Nike’s about-face, along with the not-so-good aspects.

The Good

Nike’s corporate social responsibility efforts have been lauded throughout the industry. However, the company makes clear that it’s less altruism that drives forward their sustainability efforts – it’s the need to prepare for a “fundamentally different operating environment,” one in which “competition for scarce natural resources affects the cost and availability of the inputs needed to make our products” and “rising energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions lead to increasing pressure on traditional models of product manufacturing and transportation.”

Its sustainability pillars are four-fold:

• Creating a portfolio of sustainable materials
• Prototyping and scaling sustainable sourcing and manufacturing models
• Igniting and driving market transformation
• Creating digital services revenue

Now, it’s easy for companies as large as Nike to talk the talk when it comes to sustainability goals. But Nike is also walking the walk, particularly when it comes to the technology of sustainability.

Its latest innovation is called Flyknit – a new shoe created through a mechanized knitting process that minimizes weight (for a better “barefoot” running experience AND lower shipping costs) as well as waste (66 percent less than the brand’s popular Air Pegasus+ 28).

The computer-controlled weaving technology is a “game-changer,” Nike president Charlie Denson told Bloomberg News last March. The technology eliminates the need to cut and assemble multiple parts of the shoe, which is the most labor-intensive part of the process and a large reason Nike has long outsourced cheaper labor in Asia. Denson says that the technology cuts costs so much “that eventually we could make these shoes anywhere in the world.” Including, potentially, on-site at your local Nike store.

The Bad

Indeed, Nike has come a long way from its position at the center of the sweatshop movement of the 1990s, when it was revealed that the company was using child labor in its overseas factories. The news sparked student movements on college campuses across the country, which lobbied their administrations to divest themselves from campus and sports apparel that were made under sweatshop-like conditions.

Since then, Nike has made an effort to work with advocacy groups and unions to address their concerns. But apparently, the company hasn’t worked hard enough. For instance, in 2011, garment workers at the Sukabami plant near Jakarta, Indonesia, claimed that they were mentally and physically abused at factories making Converse, a brand that is owned by Nike. The workers reported that supervisors “slapped them in the face, kicked them and called them dogs and pigs,” according to a report from the Associated Press. Workers at the factory made around 50 cents an hour – “enough for food and bunkhouse-type lodging, but little else.”

According to the AP, Nike is aware of such abuses in its factories, but it is unable – or unwilling – to stop them. An internal report released in 2011 showed that about two-thirds of the 168 factories contracted by Nike to make Converse products fail to meet Nike’s standards, with twelve in the most serious category, 97 in a category for no progress, and six that hadn’t been audited.

The Questionable

When Nike released the Flyknit shoe, it also launched the Nike Flyknit Collective – a large-scale marketing campaign centered around a platform for creative innovators who were embracing the fundamental principles of the shoe’s design. As part of the campaign, Nike hosted large scale art installations in six major cities, producing video and media content to share on the web.

Nike is famous for lavish advertising, endorsement deals, and marketing stints like this one. The Flyknit campaign easily cost millions. And recently, Nike made headlines for closing one of the most lucrative athletic sponsorships in history — $200 million over 10 years to 23-year-old golf star Rory McIlroy.

When faced with such sums, it’s difficult to explain why Nike can’t pay its factory workers more than 50 cents an hour, or why it claims that it can’t scrounge up the resources to more vigorously monitor its overseas factories.

The advances taken by Nike have been tremendous. And it’s possible that Nike’s latest advance, a shoe knit mechanically, is its greatest yet.

But have Nike’s shiny sustainability efforts distracted us from the fact that substandard conditions continue to perpetuate its overseas factories? The campus protests may have stopped in the 1990s, but it appears the problems continue to exist more than 20 years later. Nike has proven that it has the resources to overcome sustainability barriers previously thought insurmountable. Let’s hope its next efforts are directed toward creating a better world for its workers.

Images: Nike Better World, Nike Sustainability Strategy, Nike Flyknit Collective

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What is the extent of your relationship with Payless?

Summer Rayne Oakes: I work as a sustainability consultant, largely reviewing product materials, processes, packaging, non-profit partnerships and provide guidance to the overall corporate Sustainability Task Force, when necessary. What I really love about working with Payless, is their willingness to work as a partner in the Zoe & Zac program and beyond.

What areas are you specifically working with them to make improvements?

SRO: I’ve been specifically tasked to work with their team on the Zoe & Zac shoes and accessories line, which focuses on the use of more environmentally-preferable materials like organic cotton, linen, hemp and recycled materials – from rubber, wool, PET and recycled cardboard. I was involved in Zoe & Zac from the very beginning of the concept and my work with Payless involved everything from mission, messaging, and continued new ideas and innovation. This important work on Zoe & Zac has made its way into other initiatives, and I’ve also helped provide input and counsel to the overall company on the structure and dynamics of their sustainability team. In fact, this week I am heading back down to the company’s corporate headquarters in Kansas to give three presentations on varying subjects.

Are you aware of what Payless is doing as a company in terms of corporate social responsibility?

SRO: I am most equipped to talk about the corporate social responsibility initiatives as it relates to Zoe & Zac, however, I’ve been kept relatively up-to-date on corporate-wide initiatives. Collective Brands (parent company) and Payless have been honing in on a range of initiatives – from printing on recycled materials and waste recycling to transportation efficiencies and charitable giving. One of the most exciting initiatives for me has been their progress in transportation, which is a big slice of the pie since they ship to nearly 4,500 stores. Collective Brands has become SmartWay certified, which is the EPA’s initiative to make freight transport operations cleaner and more efficient. More than 80 percent of their transportation carriers are SmartWay certified. That’s equivalent to taking more than 30 million metric tons of CO2 and 200,000 tons of NOx emissions out of the environment. To put it bluntly – that’s about 12 million cars off the road. But it’s an uphill environmental battle. As an aside, that’s 4.7 million short of how many vehicles were sold in China last year alone.

As far as Payless goes on the transportation front, the company is now transporting approximately 80 percent of their inbound deliveries from the port to their distribution centers by rail. This is up from 60 percent last year, which is an incredible jump in efficiency.

Payless also has a long history of charitable giving – ranging from special programs (e.g., supporting breast cancer awareness, higher education scholarships for minority youth, tree restoration, among others) to annual events. They are probably most known for their Payless Gives Shoes 4 Kids shoe giveaway. For two years now, at the holiday season in November and December, they partner with about 750 localized non-profits across the Western Hemisphere (in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and in 10 Latin American countries where there are Payless stores) to distribute $1.2 million in free shoes to children and families in need. Payless has also partnered with The Nature Conservancy’s Plant a Billion Trees campaign, which has committed to planting 100,000 trees. Last year’s program raised $200,000 and will plant 200,000 trees this year. Payless expects this year’s program to be equally as successful.

Does Payless have plans to phase in more eco friendly styles?

SRO: We want to focus on great shoes and accessories and are concentrating right now on quality as opposed to quantity. We’re still learning a lot about the materials, especially on the accessories front, so in the next few seasons, you’ll see about eight principle styles in women’s and girls’ shoes and about 4-6 accessories, which will also include handbags.

Has the Zoe & Zac brand inspired the company as a whole to source sustainable materials and ethical manufacturing in any of their other brands?

SRO: I haven’t followed up on what’s happening with the other brands under Payless, but I believe it is safe to say that Zoe & Zac and the greater sustainability initiatives happening on the corporate level have informed, if not influenced, a number of decisions – from printing, recycling, and using recycled materials.

What is Payless doing about waste and recycling?

SRO: In terms of waste, Payless donates all of their sample shoes to Soles4Souls, which then gives them away to needy children across the globe. They also have a recycling program in all of their corporate and business unit offices, which include Topeka, KS; Lexington, MA; and Englewood, CO. As far as shipping, Payless ends up reusing 45 percent of the corrugated boxes that come into their distribution centers. The inbound shipping boxes from their global manufacturing partners basically get reused to ship shoes to their stores. The rest of the 55 percent corrugate is recycled and all of that cardboard is 70 percent recycled content. Obviously increasing efficiency, reducing waste and using more recycled content is the goal, but it is a work-in-progress.

Payless manufactures their shoes in China, including the Zoe & Zac brand. Have you visited the facility in China where these products are made?

SRO: Absolutely. It was one of the first requests I had when I came on board. The experience was particularly informative. It showed me how much the manufacturing facilities are very much partners in the whole supply chain, as opposed to just some external foreign facility. For instance, one family-owned and operated facility was almost completely dependent on Payless for business and support, and that’s not taken lightly by the [Payless] team. It’s not the most efficient facility, being older, but Payless feels as if it’s their responsibility to work with them to get them there. On a whole, Payless has helped institute a number of changes in the facilities, like the use of tolulene-free materials, non-solvent based cements, and proper ventilation. This is in part due to their long-standing relationship and philosophy with their manufacturing partners, which is absolute key in instituting change. You need to know someone is there for you for the long haul to feel incentivized to move in the right direction.

As far as auditing – I feel as if the team is always at the facility, but proper auditing happens four times per year, and covers issues including: health/safety, labor, and environmental concerns. The Labor issues are in accordance with the latest China Labor Contract Law, which was instituted by the Chinese government in February 2008.

There are other initiatives that Payless is involved in, like the FDRA Overseas Labor Practices initiative, which essentially is a driver in standardized compliance requirements and inspections for the footwear industry. There are also a number of other cool initiatives that are coming out from other trade industries in the coming months, which I’ll be sharing with the team.

And finally, why Payless as opposed to another footwear company?

SRO: Payless approached me about two years ago and I have to say that I was deeply impressed on a number of fronts that made it a no-brainer to work with them. Looking back on it I realize that all of what I mention below is still true.

1. The conversation I was having was with their C-Level executives, meaning that the programs would be taken seriously and gain traction company-wide.
2. The team was enthusiastic – not only about the prospect of working with one another – but also at the prospect of implementing change. Nothing is more fulfilling than working with enthusiastic, passionate people.
3. They were eager to answer questions, and if they didn’t know the answer, they were happy to find out who did.
4. They had already shown initiative by creating a Sustainability Task Force and instituting baseline data points to show progress.
5. They were interested in working with me in a vertically-integrated capacity, which means I wouldn’t just be asked to front a brand, but be working with it through-and-through. Personally, that is a much more fulfilling role for me, and allows me to exercise working with companies that truly share my core values.
6. They take my advice! And the advice of their customers! I can’t tell you how emotionally satisfying that is. And finally,
7. They are a company that reaches a wide demographic, not often focused on environmental concerns, so it really ties back into my core focus of reaching a new audience. I love that.

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