I appreciate a company who has always been green, but has not touted that fact because its just who they are, who they’ve been and who they will continue to be.  With the recent “green” craze, Pikolinos realizes its now in their best interest to let consumers know about their environmental commitments.  They’re not jumping on the “green bandwagon” to make a buck, they already sell 1.6 million pairs of shoes each year to 50 countries around the world in all five continents.  They were the first footwear company to be awarded the ISO 14001 certification in 2003, in 2005 they received the EU eco-label ‘Flower’ award for their Ecological City range and they work with LIFE, a commission for the progressive elimination of solvents in footwear.  They use natural tanning processes, vegetable dyed leather, water-based glues and never used plastics to coat their leather (as many companies do).

They are in the process of obtaining an eco-certification for 95% of their shoes, which will soon thereafter bear a single line of green stitching on each pair of their certified “green shoes”.

Check out these cool men’s bowling shoes and cute woman’s Mary Janes!  They’re unbelievably soft and comfortable and the intricate stitching and attention to detail is evident and only found in fine, handmade shoes.

A Note About Leather Being Green:

Leather is a by-product of the meat industry and it’s resourceful to use what is otherwise disgarded.  Leather itself is biodegradable but its important to buy naturally-tanned leather as conventionally tanned leather has its own set of pollution issues (not to mention toxic leather treatments that may be leaching into your skin as you wear them all day).  Most  leather in the U.S. is chrome-tanned and toxins like formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives and various cyanide-based oils, dyes and finishes are rampantly used.  Animals who are hunted specifically for their fur is an entirely different matter altogether and one that I am vehemently opposed to.

Posted on September 14th, 2008 by Stancie Wilson