Earth Day Roundup: Our Most Earth-Conscious Footwear Yet

Happy Earth Day! The first Earth Day happened 50 years ago (or 4.54 billion years ago, depending on your point of view). Hardcore nature lovers that we are, Earth Day is close to our hearts. We believe in protecting public lands, cleaning up waterways, and reducing barriers to appreciating nature every day, not just Earth Day.

Since 2003, we’ve also been on a 24/7/365 mission to eliminate everything that shouldn’t be in our products (like PFCs!) — because what we put in our products also ends up in our ecosystems. It’s a journey, not an overnight change (we take it one step at a time), and we’re really proud of the strides we’ve made — and are still making — to create better shoes for a better planet.

This year, we’re celebrating Earth Day from the ground up, with our most Consciously Created collection of shoes yet. If you are looking for ways to step lighter, here are a few of our new faves:

The Harvest Flip, Our Most Recycled Flip-Flop Ever

Our new flip-flop is our most recycled one yet, made with recycled materials in every part of the sandal, including 100% recycled plastic bottles in the webbing. Using recycled plastic in fibers saves energy and resources, and helps keep millions of P.E.T. bottles out of the waste stream. Yesterday’s waste becomes today’s webbing!

What recycled goodness goes into the Harvest Flip?

• Webbing made from 100% recycled P.E.T. plastic bottles
• Underfoot cushioning with recycled PU mixed into the midsole
• The non-marking outsole contains recycled rubber (it looks neat, too!)
• And don’t forget packaging for the shoe: that’s made of recycled plastic, too

The Harvest flip-flop shares a name with the Harvest bag, our twice-upcycled bag made from recycled fabric sacks that once held coffee beans. Making durable products from stuff that was once destined for a landfill is what we mean when we say our products are “Consciously Created.”

The Terradora II Limited Boot

We updated our women’s-specific Terradora II boot with more comfort, traction, and performance. But we decided to take the “Terra” even further, too. Our Earth Day limited-edition Terradora II boot features natural and recycled materials in many parts of this women’s-specific hiker.

Renewed. Refreshed. Recycled.
• 100% recycled P.E.T. webbing
• 100% recycled P.E.T. laces
• 100% recycled P.E.T. lining
• 100% organic cotton upper (Black and Nostalgia Rose colors)
• 78% linen & 22% organic cotton upper (Natural color)
• Gum outsole with 3% reground cork

5 More Ways to Step Lighter

The Lorelai Hemp Sneaker: A natural textile upper made of renewable hemp and cotton combines with a minimalist design that cuts down on glue and other materials.

The Elle Sandal: Recycled plastic makes up the stretchy straps on this strappy sandal, and the rubber outsole is infused with natural jute (a plant fiber). More jute = less rubber usage!

The SOLR Sandal: Post-consumer recycled plastic makes up the sturdy webbing straps on this design (psst, we used the same recycled plastic webbing in our new dog leash and collar).

The Timmons Sneaker: Bonded with heat instead of harmful solvents or glues, this durable, 100% vulcanized sneaker features a natural rubber outsole and environmentally preferred leather for cleaner water.

American wool socks: We’ve got socks for men and women, made with American wool from sheep ranches here in the U.S. It’s also processed in the U.S., and knit in the U.S.! Why is that a good thing? A few reasons: we get to support American wool farms and textile mills and cut down on the number of miles (a.k.a. carbon emissions) that go into making every pair of socks. Not ba-a-ad!

Our detox journey has taken us on some incredible adventures, from learning about leather tanning in India to deciding to open our own factory here in our hometown. To read more about how we put our values in motion every day, check out Our Purpose.