Emma Watson, queen of sustainable and ethical clothing first introduced me to Veja trainers. Ironically I went on to learn about them in my sustainability lectures as well and it made me even more intrigued about why the brand is so fantastic.
V10 | 125 euros
On examination, I now understand the hype and their main ethical stance is their trace-ability of where each part of their trainer comes from, which is really impressive..
Their organic cotton is sourced from Brazil, with 320 families who live on organic farms providing the product. Free trade also applies so that the farmers gain a fair wage that helps not just them but the community as well.
The area where the cotton is sourced is known for high levels of inequality and so veja really are helping those most in need. Additionally, the suppliers all pool their cotton together so to reduce transformation costs helping save money and reduce waste.
Sun | 99 euros
The rubber used in the trainers is extracted from trees in a reserve in the Amazon. Veja to date work with 60 families local families. You may question, well isn't this really bad for the environment? Whats interesting is, that due to the increase in synthetic rubber this has led to natural rubber being so cheap. This has forced many families to move to farming, clearing large areas of land and rain forests leading to increased desertification and erosion rate. Providing a fair price for the natural rubber insentivises those farming to replant and take care of the forests to ensure they have enough product and so means trees are more likely to be planted than wasted.
Veja have thought to consider all different types of market and so they even offer vegan shoes should you not wish to have leather products.
Veja do not advertise, it maybe why you have never heard of them, they are all about word of mouth. They believe that the money is more important in the supply chain meaning farmers and producers environmental requirements are met to maintain the high standard.
The creation cost of the shoes is roughly 3 to 4 times more than your standard shoe due to the high quality and the products used. By not advertising though they are able to stay close to the competitors pricing demonstrating that you can be successful, ethical and use fantastic products and still be an active competitor.
Finally, because the companies key priority it to reduce CO2 they are have examined how their goods are transported using boats and the shoe boxes being made out of recycled cardboard.
Whats refreshing about Veja however is that they know they are not perfect and they know there are many limitations. However, they are trying to make a difference and create a fantastic product regardless of the challenges they meet along the way
What do you think of Veja? Do you own any of their trainers?
Love
Erin
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