|
British athletes at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Petitions.PM.gov.uk/Boycott-Olympics
Ethical Products Organisation
10.03.2008
Your website has been EPO verified ethical and has now been
added to the Ethical Products Organisation Directory. We ask
all our member companies to display our Shield of Authenticity
prominently on their website. This allows customers to recognise
that your website is verified as an ethical retailer by the EPO.
It also provides a direct link to your listing on the EPO.
 Shoppers care
more about animals than climate
- Co-op conducts a massive survey of shoppers' ethics
- New responsible retailing policy is based on results
Julia Finch, City editor February 04 2008 on p23 of the Financial
section
Guardian.co.uk/animalrights/
Animal welfare and fair trade are far bigger concerns to UK
consumers than climate change, according to a huge new poll of
UK shoppers.
Only 4% rate climate change as their top ethical priority,
compared with 21% who think animal welfare is the most important
issue and 14% who rate fair trade as their key concern.
The findings come from a survey conducted by the Co-op grocery
business that has been used to draw up a "responsible retailing"
policy, designed to reflect shoppers' concerns.
The Co-op claims the survey is the biggest poll of consumer
ethics ever undertaken. The supermarket group analysed responses
to a detailed, four-page questionnaire from more than 100,000
members and customers. It intends to use their responses to guide
changes to the way it does business.
As a result of the survey the Co-op is halting the sale and
use of eggs from caged hens with immediate effect. The 2,700-strong
supermarket chain is also ensuring all its own-brand tea - including
its 99 brand - becomes fair trade. The customer-owned grocery
business, which made all of its coffee fair trade five years
ago, intends to absorb the extra costs so that prices do not
go up.
Three main categories emerged from the survey as the key areas
of concern: ethical trading (27%), animal welfare (25%) and environmental
impact (22%).
Shoppers' worries about the environment are focused on issues
other than climate change. Twice as many are concerned about
the amount of packaging on their food as think global warming
is the most important issue.
As a result, the Co-op is changing the shape and weight of
its 26 own-brand wine bottles to save 450m tonnes of glass a
year. It has also increased its list of prohibited pesticides
from 32 to 98.
Among those who believe ethical trading is the most important
issue, 14% make fair trade their priority, with 8% supporting
"general ethical trading" policies.
Some 4% pinpointed animal testing as the ethical issue they
believe is the most important facing consumers - the same proportion
as want more attention paid to climate change. Paul Monaghan,
the Co-op's head of ethics, said the group believed that consumers'
apparent indifference to climate change was likely to be the
result of believing they have little influence to force change:
"They may believe they are powerless on climate change.
People can choose to buy Fairtrade or Freedom Food labels, but
there is no carbon label yet. We think shoppers see climate change
as an issue for corporations and governments."
Peter Marks, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, said
the organisation would not scale back its support for the global
drive to reduce greenhouse emissions despite its members' seeming
ambivalence to the issue. He said they needed more information,
adding: "Over the next decade we will work even harder to
help customers understand the threat we face and the actions
we can take."
The Co-op launched its vast consultation exercise last September.
It aimed to discover which issues meant most to its customers
and to make it clear that some seemingly sensible changes had
negative repercussions that it would not support. The grocer
pointed to the aeroplane stickers used on air-freighted exotic
fruit and flowers by Marks & Spencer and Tesco and accused
its rivals of "lazy thinking".
The Co-op said it would never introduce such stickers because
they could have a detrimental effect on growers in less developed
countries and the carbon produced by importing from African farmers
can be a fraction of that produced by farmers in Europe because
of the heating and lighting required.
The Co-op has long been at the forefront of the ethical debate.
It was the first major retailer to champion fair trade, when
it put Cafédirect coffee on its shelves in 1992, and introduced
the UK's first fair trade bananas in 2000.
In recent years, however, supermarket groups have increasingly
been seeking to underline their credentials as planet-friendly
businesses. Marks & Spencer has set out a 100-point Plan
A eco-strategy while Tesco has set out a "community plan"
and has pledged to "become a leader in helping to create
a low-carbon economy". Tesco is also leading an initiative
to come up with a carbon-labelling scheme and last year announced
£25m of funding for a new Sustainable Consumption Institute
at Manchester University.
Monaghan said the Co-op was now "raising the bar"
with its ethics policy.
http://www.Co-Operative.co.uk/JoinNow
for a free members' telephone legal advice line
(note: several consumer co-operatives surveyed their members
- this is United Co-Op. Non-customers can join free)
(John Lewis and Waitrose more sensibly are staff Co-Ops)
 Jak
si správne vybrat zimní obuv?
Monika Rajterová | Úterý 11. 12. 2007
| Móda
pro nožku
Urcite už se vám nejednou stalo, že jste
se zbláznila do nejakých bot a pak jste zjistila,
že jsou bud nepohodlné nebo nekvalitní. Ženy
jsou vetšinou ovlivnené módními trendy,
a tak koukají predevším na vzhled bot a mnohdy
jim to stací k tomu, aby se i nesprávne rozhodly
pro jejich koupi.
Cena
 Do
puntíku zde platí porekadlo: nejsem tak bohatá,
abych si mohla kupovat levné veci. Koupit si kvalitní
zimní boty, to opravdu není levná záležitost,
takže nevybírejte boty podezrele laciné. U
takových bot je už predem dáno, že si
výrobce na kvalite bot nedal záležet. Bud
ošidil materiál nebo zase ubral na pohodlí
atd.
Pokud si preci jen koupíte boty ve výprodeji
nebo na tržnici, musíte slevit ze svých nároku
a taky pocítat s tím, že to nebude to pravé
orechové. Mnohdy vám jedny na zimu stacit nebudou,
protože se vám drív rozpadnou. U dražších
a drahých bot je sice porizovací cena vyšší,
ale když vemete v úvahu to, že vám vydrží
i nekolik zim, pak nemáte ceho litovat.
Part of a round-up of original good-value boots on the
internet, run alongside a story about Prague Fashion week. Veganline.com
is mentioned for the cowgirl
boot.
 Shoparound
Johanna Best & Verity Hunt-Sheppard, The
Vegan, Winter 2007, p6
Veganline have some fantastic new boots to see you through
the winter (or put them aside and show them off at summer festivals!)
For Camo fans Veganline's Jungle Boots are just the ticket. Inspired
by posters advertising Camouflage Exhibition at the Imperial
War Museum in London they feature a water resistant breathable
top and Solovair soles which mould to and cushion your feet.
Their XCap boot has an external steel toecap and tough rubber
sole. Made from breathable microfibre, these 10-hole lace-ups
are said to keep you safe whatever vegan adventures you get up
to.
Both the Xcap and Jungle boots are made in the UK
Jungle Boot, size 8-13 £64
+ £4.50 postage
XCap, size 6-13, £55 + £4.50
postage
..."a great selection of breathable womens' winter
boots"....
 Bamboo
bras are the latest in eco chic, says style bible Vogue
 Hannah
Fletcher and Ed Hancox, The
Times, London, September 8, 2007
- Quotes No Sweat hemp shoes
at number 5 out of 30; Times introduction quoted below
- Other papers report the story worldwide including the
Daily Mail & Liverpool
Confidential, which chooses No Sweat shoes for their photo
They are for girls who want to go green while retaining a
certain modish chic. Vogue, the globe’s style bible, has
provided its list of 30 tips on how to save the world while still
managing to turn heads.
The list of planet-friendly fashion ideas, which has been
branded as “eco chic”, includes such delights as bamboo
bras, compostable lipsticks and eco-jeans. There are even biodegradable
surfboards.
Controversially however, top of the magazine’s list is
a bag designed by Lauren Bush, the 23-year-old niece of President
George Bush, a man whose green credentials have, on occasion,
been questioned. Its perch at the top of the list follows the
clamour from British shoppers earlier this year to get their
hands on Anya Hindmarch’s £5 “I’m Not a
Plastic Bag” bag. Now Vogue is tipping Ms Bush’s $59.95
(£30) Feed 2 Bag as the next hot alternative to plastic
bags.
Ms Bush designed the burlap and muslin bag, a luxury version
of her original Feed Bag, for the United Nations’ World
Food Programme. It will go on sale in Harrods later this month.
The profit from the sale of one bag will feed two children for
one year.
“It represents a small solution, one bag at a time,”
Ms Bush said.
The list, which appears in the October issue of Vogue, also
includes shops and small businesses that provide eco-friendly
solutions to a fashionista’s every need.
One of the most prominent is so ahead of its time that it
has not even opened yet. Eco, which is being founded by actor
Colin Firth and appears at number eight on the list, is described
as “a shop to fulfil all eco-home dreams”.
 Pete
Austin, Evening
Telegraph, Northamptonshire, 8 November 2007
Also in http://music.einnews.com/ (subscribers only)
And http://calibre.mworld.com/m/m.w?lp=GetStory&id=279678181
http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/business/Shoe-firm-is-putting-sole.3456676.jp
A SHOE manufacturer established in 1881 has come bang up to date
by providing a chart-topping act with their footwear.
NPS Shoes at Wollaston, which still uses some of the original
machinery, has seen its skilled craftsmen provide shoes for indie-rock
group Hard-Fi.
The company is one of a handful of shoe manufacturing firms
making entire shoes, from the sheet of leather to the finished
article.
Although employing only 35 people, the company has created
a market for its range of shoes, sold under its own brand Solovair,
which are sold through agents in the UK and overseas.
Mark Henson, who works in sales and marketing, said: "We
produce traditional welted shoes and I believe we are the only
business in the UK still using the heat sealing process.
"We produce five ranges of our own shoes plus what we
make for other people under their own brands. We specialise in
short bespoke runs as we are small enough to be flexible in what
we produce."
Mr Henson once worked for a Finedon shoemaker which supplied
Showaddywaddy
with some footwear, and his latest feat has been to supply pairs
of black and white brogues for a photo shoot with indie-rock
group Hard-Fi.
Mr Henson said: "Their agent had spotted a pair in a
London shop and it went from there. I am now negotiating with
him to supply the group with shoes for their December tour, and
as the agent also works with other bands I am actively pursuing
more orders from the music world."
Once a co-operative, NPS Shoes is now privately owned, after
being bought 18 months ago by an investor who wanted the tradition
of hand-made shoes to continue in Wollaston.
New ranges are now being introduced and Mr Henson is looking
to recruit
more skilled craftsmen, or younger people willing to learn the
shoemaking trade, to keep up with demand.
The zebra-stripe boots could be made because Veganline.com
ordered some similar Jungle Boots
at the same time, making-up a minimum order for the upper material,
which has to be specially made from thinner sheets.
 Ethical
Directory: a screened directory of ethical and green web
sites:
Non leather shoes. A wide range, from the obviously green &
fairtrade to shoes that are green because they contain noleather:
the vegan society's "Eating
the Planet" pdf explains
 Prison
Break - soon to be released video
 The
Film Prison Break: [1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
will feature vegan Pornoboots. They are
shown in photo 4 and will reach a new audience for vegan products.
Prison Break is produced by UKNakedmen
: see their web site if you would like to model for them or simply
order the video. In frame 4,
the figure on the left wears XCap pornoboots while the figure
on the right wears Walsh Raid fell running shoes, expected in
stock next year.
Enquiries so far from Poland, Prague and the USA
 The
end of shopping?
Stephanie Theobald; p. 18 The
Sunday Times (London); April 1, 2007;
After an overkill of bling and bags, it was only a matter
of time before flashing your cash started to look vulgar. Stephanie
Theobald reports on the lifestyle refuseniks who've had enough
of conspicuous consumption
You can tell a lot about the state of a nation from its shopping
habits. In the 1980s, we were characterised by greedy power spending,
while the blingfest 1990s will be remembered as an era when people
believed that the brands they bought defined who they were. No
surprise, then, that in the compassionate nineties, the anti
materialist backlash has begun.
This decade may well be remembered as the one when our voracious
appetite for buying suddenly started to look uncool.[...]
Kalle Lasn, the head of the Canada-based organisation Adbusters,
which he describes as "a bunch of culture jammers fighting
back against consumer culture", has been anticipating this
consumer ennui for the past 15 years. In 1992, he came up with
Buy Nothing Day, a concept that was first taken up in Britain.
At the end of last year, groups in Manchester, Oxford and London
performed a variety of prankster zaps, including entering shops
and putting warning stickers on products such as "Put me
down, I won't bring you happiness" and "Why bother?
I'll be obsolete in six months."
 Lasn
says that there are three kinds of modern anti materialists:
the greens, the reds and the blues. The greens buy less for obvious
reasons. The reds are "radical political types who realise
that the never-ending war on terror is about the gulf between
the rich and the poor". Then there are the blues, who "might
be on antidepressants, finally realise they are stressed out
by hyperactive consumer culture and stop for their own self-
preservation".
But are any of them having an effect? The answer is –
sort of. Even if retail figures show no signs of slowing down,
people are becoming more savvy about what they buy. Even fashion
insiders are starting to admit the outrageous spending that goes
into keeping up appearances is, well, slightly vulgar. Entre
nous, they'll tell you they still favour the Chloé satchel
bag that came out more than five seasons ago over the latest
model. [...]
Burma: petition to cancel Beijing Olympics unless China intervenes
for 12 hours an invitation to sign the petition replaced
the top of Veganline.com's shopping page while this brief Indymedia
article was written to publicise it. Veganline.com labels the
country of origin of its shoes, linking the name of the country
with it's human rights record on human rights watch or amnesty
international.
Indymedia.org.uk
27.09.2007 19:04
Online petition to pressure the Beijing government: See also:
Panty
Power to 19A, Charles St, London W1J 5DX
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Boycott-Olympics/
A UK activist, Daniel Hurley, has found one of the few concrete
things that individuals can do after watching TV footage of the
crisis in Burma. Reasoning that one of the two outside influences
on the Burmese government, and the hardest to influence itself,
is desperately keen to appear modern and respectable in its planned
Beijing Olympics, the petition asks the prime minister to withdraw
UK government co-operation unless the Beijing government helps
heal the situation.
Details of what is intended are unclear, and perhaps unimportant
as the only purpose of a petition is to bring a point of view
to the UK government's attention. The more popular ones are treated
in much the same way as a question to a minister in the house
of commons, with an erudite civil service brush-off, but the
idea itself and the strength of support may attract interest
in the British government and the Chinese one.
The petition on http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Boycott-Olympics
reads: "China has continued to support the illegitimate
Junta that continues to rule Burma. Recently Burma has seen massive
peaceful protests from Monks and ordinary citizens alike, despite
this the Junta has cracked down and begun the murder of the peaceful
protesters. When an emergency session of the UNSC was called
- China blocked Sanctions against the Junta. I feel that it is
Immoral and unjust that China be able to benefit from western
economies and obtain money that would come from the Olympic games
they are due to host. I call on the British government to boycott
the '08 Olympic games in response to this disgraceful situation."
No obvious pictures are available on https://burma.indymedia.org
where the server is unable to cope with demand.
 Pressbox.co.uk
| Mon Sep 24 2007 [2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
Millions of London commuters know the Imperial War Museum's
posters of a camouflage Jungle boot. They have been one of the
main advertisers on London Underground for months, and show a
camouflage ankle boot. Up till now the boot has not been on sale.
A small vegan shoe company - Veganline.com - has decided to
get some made at one of the UK's few remaining boot factories
and they will be on sale online from the end of the week.
"They are trendy, they are made using fair employment,
they promote local industry and they are good for the environment,"
says John Robertson of Veganline.com "that touches on all
the trends in footwear just at the moment, as well as using some
free advertising".
The Jungle boot saves the jungle as well as looking like it,
according to recent reports that link over-farming with excessive
demand for animal products.
"It takes several times more land to feed and clothe
a meat eater than a vegan", says John, "as well as
generating extra methane and heat. Cloth-top shoes are some of
the most environmentally friendly ones you can get".
--
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/environment/
- environmental info
http://www.veganline.com/camouflage-boot.htm
- product info
 Green
People - directory listing updated September
 Trevor
in boots and pants
UKNakedMen
promotion
also mentioned
in homo-licious.com
and http://www.gayicandy.com/trevor2.html
Age: 24 Height: 5'10" Weight: 145 pounds Cock: 8"
inches, uncut. There's not much you can find fault with here,
but if there's a unique selling point it's those, long, firm
legs, as long and hard as tree trunks, leading your eyes and
hands up to a grip on those firm, fuzzy peaches. It's all coming
off here apart from his steel toe cap boots and slightly baggy
white pants. By the way, those boots are Vegan made, check out
www.veganline.com. Ethical porn!
See the Pornoboot page if you would
like to model for UKNakedmen in South London
You might also be interested in http://www.peta.org.uk/feat/europessexiest05.asp
A celebrity version of the same thing has attracted tabloid interest:
Alicia’s
animal passion
Daily
Star | 2007-09-21 | UK | page 10. (free log-in required for
top link published previous day, illustrated)
HOLLYWOOD beauty Alicia Silverstone is flashing the flesh
– to get people to turn vegetarian.
The Batman & Robin actress, 30, reckons her amazing curves
are all down to her diet. So she has peeled off for these sexy
snaps in an effort to persuade burger-scoffing Americans to stop
dining on animal flesh. The poster campaign, funded by animal
rights group PETA, features the slogan: “Compassion is beautiful.”
A steamy TV commercial is also being screened in the States,
showing Alicia climbing naked from a pool. The gorgeous star
said she has never felt better since cutting animal products
out of her diet:
“Physically, the effect has been amazing. Once I went
vegan, I lost the weight. I feel so much better and have so much
more energy.” Here's hoping that PETA decides to show the
steamy posters and telly advert in Britain, too. And if the sight
of Alicia cannot convince male meat-eaters to go veggie, nothing
will.
by IAIN BURCHELL, US Editor, in LA iain.burchell at dailystar
co uk. [see other PETA
releases]
 Which?
Which Magazine
 recycled
denim sandals are "well made and reasonably priced".
They were reviewed under one of the manufacturer's own brands
- recycleyourjeans or hempathy.
 Why silence over going vegan to save the planet?
Daily
Express | 2007-09-17 | UK | Page:
49 -
free short excerpt from press display.com
WHILE publications abound with ‘green’ articles
and ‘carbon footprint’ is now a phrase everyone uses,
it is bizarre that the chief cause of greenhouse gases is never
spoken of in case it upsets people – namely that billions
of cattle and other......
Articles like this follow the UN "Livestock's Long Shadow"
report, boosted by the Vegan Society's "Eating
the Earth" campaign. Columns like the same newspaper's
William Hickey's coverage of Veganline.com
Stwo years earlier are becoming rare. Even the Irish Independent,
known to compare vegans with petty criminals and blame veganism
for rickets now has some veggie
articles alongside the old guard. Maybe young journalists
just can't afford meat.
 Back-to-School
Shoppers: Go Faux For Fall
PETA
Launches Compassionate Fashion Day With Online Discounts for
Fur-, Leather-, and Wool-Free Fashions
Matt Rice, August 14, 2007 press officer 757-622-7382
Norfolk, Virginia. - Just in time for the rush to buy back-to-school
fashions, PETA has teamed up with some of the country's top names
in cruelty-free shopping in order to mark August 18 as the first-ever
Compassionate Fashion Day. And as if saving animals' skins isn't
enough of an incentive to avoid buying fashions and accessories
made of fur, leather, and wool, the discounts and other perks
that these fine companies are offering should do the trick. As
an added bonus, visitors to PETA.org who sign the pledge to "Go
Faux for Fall" will automatically be entered in a contest
to win one of two custom-made bags from hot retailer NY Artificial.
Stylish jackets, toasty sweaters, and must-have handbags made
of the finest faux fur, the supplest pleather, and itch-free
acrylic and cotton are waiting to be snatched up by buyers who
demand compassion in their fashions. Several participating online
outfitters--including Pangea, Fast & Furless, Veganline,
Bello Iris, Alternative Outfitters, Tom Bihn, and more--are offering
discounts of up to 10 percent while others are giving out free
gifts or picking up the shipping charges for customers who mention
PETA when ordering. Links to each of these companies can be found
at cruelty-free emporium PETA Mall.com. PETA will receive a percentage
of the sales with no additional charge to customers who find
each site through PETA Mall.com.
Everyone knows that fur is cruel, but what's wrong with leather
and wool? For the animals who are mutilated, treated like unfeeling
machines, and denied everything that is natural and important
to them in animal factories and slaughterhouses, there's no difference
between fur, leather, and wool. All three cause great suffering
that can be avoided simply by choosing from the many warm, durable,
and fashionable alternatives to animal-based "fabrics."
"With all the luxurious faux and synthetic alternatives
available, it's easier than ever to find to-die-for fashions
and accessories that animals didn't have to suffer or die for,"
says PETA's resident fashionista, Patricia Trostle.
For more information and to take the pledge, please visit
PETA.org.
 Seek.net
: The Internet Shopper's Guide to Going Green
July 2007: CD-sized book from some Sainsbury's branches
& book shops, ISBN 9771754389000 price £2.99.
Advertorial directory paragraph published.
Just to let you know that our latest [book is] now in-store.
Helps you use the internet to adopt greener lifestyle. The Internet
Shoppers' Guide to Going Green helps you make important changes
without compromising on quality, cost or your lifestyle.
Eco, Green, Organic, Ethical - helping the environment means
different things to different people, so the guide covers them
all and includes contributions from The Ecologist and former
Changing Rooms' designer, Oliver Heath, to name a few. Why not
pick up a copy from our prominent display in Sainsbury's. Featuring
many of our titles, it's easily recognisable by its striking
header card. http://www.seek.net/portal.aspx?portalID=3
 The
Antipreneurs
Anna Shepard; p. 41 The
Times, London June 6, 2007
...The
term was first coined back in 1989 by Adbusters, a global network
of activists intent on toppling the big brands through "culture
jamming". To give Nike a kick, they launched Blackspot
trainers, and every November they encourage people to
support Buy Nothing Day, keeping their money in their
wallets for 24 hours. Sceptics argue that the more affluent among
us have always sought out alternatives, rejecting mainstream
brands. In a 2005 book called The Rebel Sell, Canadian academics
Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter argued that the counterculture
had always been at the heart of consumer culture: tap into people's
sense that they're different and set apart, and you shift product.
Maybe, but if it means a more ethical way of doing business,
then who's carping? In the new order of things, it's not what
you do but how you do it that counts. ...
 Exhibitors
at the Recycle for Cumbria Recycling Roadshows May to June 2007
Becki Train, Events Northern Ltd, events manager to Recycle
for Cumbria p15
VEGANLINE.COM
Unswooshers are organic canvas boots with a recycled racing tyre
sole. This boot was designed as an alternative to American corporate
fashions, in style and manufacture. The Canadian magazine Adbusters began producing
these after people began writing their own logos in felt pen
over the ubiquitous advertised ones. Now the shoes are being
sold to encourage the same movement, and have a big white blob
on the side where you can draw whatever logo you like!
The organic canvas is unusual in being made of hemp fibre,
rather than the usual cotton. Hemp grows almost as a weed and
is much easier to grow organically than cotton, but has only
been re-introduced recently, despite a long tradition of growing
hemp for naval ropes, after a post-war ban that was introduced
by mistake. Now you still need a licence to grow hemp, but some
firms such as Mother Hemp and Hemcore are growing it in the UK.
This canvas was grown in Romania where there is still a live
tradition of making
it and machinery for turning it into cloth is more readily available.
The soles are 100% re-used as well as re-cycled. Made of racing
tyres, there is no wire re-enforcement in this rubber and it's
possible to use a swing beam press and a cutting blade to make
rough shoe sole shapes that are then glued to the bottom of the
rest of the shoe and ground down to a smooth edge.
Ankle Boot
Everyday footwear with a fashion interest 25% of raw materials
by value, more by weight £64.50 to buy mail-order, including
postage. Contact:
http://www.veganline.com/unswoosher.htm
(UK retailer who supplied the sample)
http://www.blackspotsneaker.org
 New
Life For Old Jeans As Eco Sandals
Theenvironmentsite.org
Tuesday April 17, 2007
I don't know how many people who post on here live in London
but out of those who do did any of you see this article in the
Metro this
morning? [...] A few little facts of interest from their website:
- Recycling textiles saves on pesticides, fertilisers, processing
chemicals and energy.
- If every person in the UK used one item of recycled clothing
per year, the amount of processing water saved would fill an
average UK reservoir.
- Kalahari sandals have the lowest transport footprint of any
sandal on the market because they are made in the UK, not 5,000
miles away as 99% of the footwear on sale in the UK is.
 Jeans
that turn into eco-friendly sandals
Staff reporter, Metro
News April 16, 2007
Instead of throwing your old pair of jeans into the bin you
can now turn them into eco-friendly sandals.
Shoemaker Mike Stables came up with idea when the last Clarks
factory closed down in Britain late last year. He snapped up
the factory's canvas shoe-making equipment, hired some of its
workers and set up recycleyourjeans.com
After signing up at the site and paying £45, you are
sent a prepaid envelope to pack your (preferably washed) jeans
and dispatch them to the Softwalker factory.
A week or so later a pair of Kalahari brand sandals 'guaranteed
made from your own jeans' arrives in the post.
The material from your old faithfuls goes into making the
base of the shoe and the wraparound section while the soles are
polyurethane.
Recycling textiles saves on pesticides, fertilisers, energy
and water, claims the family-run business in Askam-in Furness,
Cumbria.
Mr
Stables said: 'If every person in the UK recycled just one item
of clothing each year the amount of processing water saved would
fill an average reservoir.'
Veganline.com stock the ready-made blue jeans version
Ethical dilemma
DR ROBERT MCKAY, The
Independent (London); Jul 18, 2006
Sir: I am dismayed by the invisibility of animal issues in
so- called ethical reporting in the media ("50 Best Ethical
Buys", 15 July). Increasingly, it seems, "organic"
is the synonym for ethical' alternatives such as "vegan"
don't get a look in. Of 50 best "ethical" buys not
one was notably chosen from the standpoint of avoiding animal
abuse: you overlooked excellent vegan products available from
Green and Black's and Co-op wines, and promoted suede while neglecting
wonderful companies like [...].
DR ROBERT MCKAY
SHEFFIELD
See "shoppers care more about animals" survey
of co-op members above
 Tread
carefully ; The Green Pages
Hester Lacey; p. 9 The
Independent (London); June 29, 2006
From next month, all tyres must be recycled. But some designers
are already finding ingenious ways to reuse them, from making
shoes to building new road surfaces.
Tyres are tough and durable, and they have to be. An average
car tyre will travel around 20,000 miles over its lifetime. But
what happens when they reach the end of the road? According to
the latest Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) figures, 48
million tyres, weighing 480,000 tons, were scrapped in 2004.
Since 2003, only shredded tyres have been permitted in landfill,
and this, too, will be prohibited by the EU from 1 July.
From that date, all car and truck tyres will have to be recovered,
recycled and reused. "I can't think of any other product
that has had to reach 100 per cent recovery levels," says
Peter Taylor, secretary of the Tyre Recovery Association. "But
we can cope."
So what happens when you leave an elderly, balding tyre at
the garage? "I would hope that you'd be asked for an environmental
charge of £1 or £1.50," says Taylor. "Your
garage or car dealer will have a collection agreement with a
tyre collector: our members collect about 70 per cent of the
country's tyres. The collector has a contract with a processor,
and the next stage is reuse or recycling."
One immediate concern linked to the new legislation is a potential
increase in fly tipping. Recently, for example, 18 40ft containers
of tyres were abandoned in Cheshire "It is just wilfulness,
as the channels exist for dealing with responsibly," says
Taylor "We don't want to see our products littering the
hedgerows and there is no need for it. Strong and effective enforcement
from the the Environment Agency is needed"
Currently, around a quarter of old tyres are reused and around
half are recycled in some way. To make up the shortfall, there
are some imaginative ways to give an old tyre a new lease of
life...
10 USES FOR A DEAD TYRE
- As a building material [...]
- To make level crossings and roads [...]
- To make stationery [...]
- To make shoes: The Blackspot
Unswoosher sneaker is made from 100 per cent organic
hemp, with a sole made from recovered tyres. It was designed
by John Fluevog for the Adbusters Media Foundation, which fights
global capitalism. The shoes are made in a family-owned factory
in rural Portugal which of workers excellent conditions. The
Unswoosher costs the equivalent of $120 (around £65). (www.Blackspot-
sneaker.org)
 To
make sport surfaces and playgrounds [...]
- To make carpet underlay [...]
- Mulching the garden [...]
- To hold back the sea or provide homes for fish [...]
- As cement kiln fuel [...]
- To hang from a tree and swing around in [...]
Back on track: second-hand tyres
One efficient way of reusing old tyres is to retread them.
Most truck tyres are designed to be retreaded and it has long
been routine practice for aircraft tyres. "It is technologically
proven and the product is as good as a new tyre," says Peter
Taylor. "The tyre is examined to make sure its casing is
sound' it may also be X- rayed. It is then buffed to remove old
tread, receives a new tread and new walls and is cured."
But while 40 per cent of truck tyres are retreaded, only two
or three per cent of car tyres live on as tyres, down from 20
per cent a few years ago. It seems consumers just aren't keen
on second-hand tyres.
For retreads in your part of the UK, try http://www.tyres-online.co.uk/dealers/depots2.htm
 Livestock's
Long Shadow
H. Steinfeld, P. Gerber, T. Wassenaar, V. Castel, M. Rosales,
C. de Haan, 390p
Food
and Agriculture office of the United Nations (FAO) and sponsoring
governments
Summary: This report aims to assess the full impact of the
livestock sector on environmental problems, along with potential
technical and policy approaches to mitigation. The assessment
is based on the most recent and complete data available, taking
into account direct impacts, along with the impacts of feed crop
agriculture required for livestock production.
The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three
most significant contributors to the most serious environmental
problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of
this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when
dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and
air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of
bio diversity.
Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is
on a massive scale and its potential contribution to their solution
is equally large. The impact is so significant that it needs
to be addressed with urgency. Major reductions in impact could
be achieved at reasonable cost.
Until this report, most vegans were interested in saving
animal cruelty and most greens were interested in saving pollution;
now green & vegan seem much the same thing - even if you
can't put most vegan shoes in your compost bin.
 Shopping
without cruelty
Fiona Osler Red
Pepper magazine April 2006
"Shoes to die for: It's not only the fur trade where
animals die for fashion. Angora rabbits object strongly to being
shorn, often dying in the process. Sheep suffer pain and stress
and leather is not a by-product of the meat industry but an industry
all of its own. Cruelty-free shoes and trainers have come a long
way from sweaty, naff plastic – see www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk
and New Balance vegan and sweatshop-free trainers at www.veganline.com/trainers.htm".
Hot
economic trends
David Rowan; p. 12 The
Times (London); Feb 25, 2006; © Times Newspapers Ltd
Do you seriously want to be rich? Sorry, but you're wasting
your time if you thought this skinflint column could help. The
best we can do is introduce you to a few buzzwords that seem
right on the money whenever some of our sharpest economists meet
to exchange ideas.
Spout a few of these notions when you're next trying to impress
a date, and we guarantee you'll be left feeling like a million
dollars.
[...]Antipreneurism: Fashionable consumerism for those who
reject corporations as evil. Following on from Naomi Klein's
observations about the "no-logo" generation, Antipreneurs
favour their own DIY challenges to the big brands, as exemplified
in the "culture-jamming" of activist groups such as
Adbusters. Its "Blackspot"
sweatshop-free sneakers sought to challenge Nike, and its supporters
discuss everything from brand-less radio stations to vodka. [...]
david.rowan at thetimes dot co-uk
NoLondon2012
The Veganline.com web site carries a link for three months
of 2005 lobbying against
a vanity project called an Olympic bid. Vanity replaces pensions,
schools, hospitals, dentists and the rest on our government's
spending priorities. Autocratic states are reported as
though respectable, while groups of state-funded fitness instructors
are reported as representing nations. Many readers of the No
To London 2012 web site registered their support for the French
bid in any way they could but, sadly, more French people may
have done the same in registering support for the London bid.
Since winning the bid, the Olympic Delivery Authority (not council:
authority) has admitted that the budget will have to double.
UPDATE 2008: UK Olympic athletes are asked to sign
a contract promising not to criticise China's human rights record.
British athelets are pictured at the 1936 Olympics above. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Boycott-Olympics/
Adbusters Magazine, Canada, June 2005
launches the second of their hemp-top European-made sneakers,
the Blackspot, this one designed
by John Fluevog of Canada.
Vegan Society
trademark
holder from 1.6.2005
William Hickey Column
William
Hickey, The Express 19
April 2005
CAUGHT unawares in a "green" deli by some vegan
fanatics, who recognise Hickey and threaten to expose my identity,
I agree to give them a mention of Veganline.com, a "superlative" (their
word, not mine) range of animal-free footwear.
These sensible shoes are in unique (I'll say) styles and most
of them have springy, bouncy soles (with what in mind, I shudder
to think). I was particularly drawn to the Bouncing
Boot, elegantly pictured, which, I assume, is favoured
by wimmin with a certain sexual predilection in Edinburgh.
see the same tabloid's vegan editorial
two years later
Resolutionary
Politics:
Buy Nothing Christmas
Fiona Osler Red
Pepper Magazine, December / January 2006: Clothes swapping,
car sharing and joining a ‘green gym’. Fiona Osler
offers some planet-saving alternatives to the usual New Year’s
resolutions
 Start your New Year’s
resolutions early and give up presents for Christmas. The Buy
Nothing Christmas website from Adbusters includes tips and hints
to get through the seasonal consumerfest without spending a penny.
Try out the downloadable gift exemption vouchers at www.adbusters.org
Veganline.com promoted "Buy Nothing Day" on the
front page of its web site for two days, as well as selling Adbusters'
own Unswoosher boots which have
space for you to draw your own brand
 Green
Guide: the directory for planet-friendly living
Vegan shoes, boots, belts and wallets, some of them made in
British factories specially for Veganline.com. Current stock
includes goodyear-welted cushion-sole boots, hemp ëunswoosherí
boots, in unisex and feminine styles. The site includes a vegetarian
recipe search
site map engine.
 Adventures in
Ethical Consumerism
Neil Beaver Blog
December 15, 2004
veganline.com is an excellent resource for tracking down good
quality, well-priced and ethically sourced shoes, boots, slippers,
belts, wallets and recipes.
One of the things I love about this site is that it gives
you relevant information in language you can understand, instead
of fancy names for fancy innovations that don't necessarily mean
anything. Their 'about us' page is a particularly
interesting read. The fair labour policy is a little vague, I
feel, but commendable all the same.
This is a site that focuses on the products and the processes
that bring them to you. Its lack of sales pitch is highly refreshing.
 Shopping
Guide to Compassionate Clothing
Peta.org's
guide to cruelty-free clothes lists Veganline.com
 A curse
on all brands: The Blackspot sneaker is determined to give global
giants Nike a kicking.
Jennifer Cunningham The
Herald - Glasgow (UK)
 Date: Sep 29, 2004 early edition
The black spot, the mysterious but certain agent of death,
used to dramatic effect by Robert Louis Stevenson in Treasure
Island, had a lasting effect on the imagination of Kalle Lasn,
founder of Adbusters 14 years ago. Recognising that in restricting
himself to campaigning he is increasingly in danger of preaching
to the converted, he is now manufacturing Blackspot
sneakers, the caring consumer's answer to the global branding
and manufacturing which depends on low wages, and it's personal.
He is targeting Phil Knight, head of Nike.
Lasn already has a rival. No Sweat sneakers are also canvas
shoes manufactured to Fair Trade standards. Adam Neiman, president
and co- founder of No Sweat Apparel
in Massachusetts, was already manufacturing leisure clothing
with a guarantee that it was "100% union-made". He
was intrigued by Lasn's plan to produce trainers to shame Nike
and saw an opportunity to join the subscribers to Adbusters magazine
with the supporters of workers' rights who bought his clothes.
He offered his production expertise in exchange for Lasn's promotional
skills.
Lasn preferred to go it alone. The result is that No
Sweat and Blackspot shoes are
now in direct competition for the sizable market of people who
favoured Converse trainers until they were taken over by Nike.
 Do
try this at home: where to buy ethical clothing
Leo Hickman The
Guardian (Manchester); October 7, 2004; p. 11 - G2 section
Ethical Consumer magazine (www.ethicalconsumer.org, tel. 0161-226
2929) rates companies across a wide range of ethical criteria,
including environmental record, attitudes towards workers' rights,
investment in GM technology and political lobbying. When clothing
was last covered in the magazine [...] Best buys for shoes included
Veganline (www.veganline.com).
 Nichole Huck | July 1, 2004| Briarpatch
If the shoe fits, order it today: can radical anti-advertizing
group Adbusters find ways to go toe-to-toe against their mega-corp
competition in the promotion of a new shoe designed to kick Nike's
ass?
"Phil Knight had a dream. He'd sell shoes. He'd sell
dreams. He'd get rich. He'd use sweatshops if he had to. Then
along came a new shoe. Plain. Simple. Fair. Designed for only
one thing: kicking Phil's Ass."
This controversial text will soon be plastered on billboards
and in newspapers across North America. The ads are for a new
shoe and feature a picture of a black sneaker with a white, hand-drawn
scribble on the side and a red dot on the front (for kicking
Phil Knight's ass). They urge the reader to "rethink the
cool."
The shoe, known as the "unswoosher" or the "black
spot sneaker" is the brainchild of "culture jamming"
Adbusters media foundation. Adbusters is ...
 Buyer's Guide - Best Buy
Ethical
Consumer Buyer's Guides
Buyers' Guide monthly feature, 2004. This month: clothes &
clothes shops, covering all the high street chains with a section
on ethical alternatives. The report is available online to Ethiscore
subscribers. More recent issues have weighted factors like recycled
laces as being more important than whether a shoe is sourced
in China. Given the difficulty sourcing any shoes at all in countries
like the UK, the newer lists include more of small efforts by
big brands. The list published February 2007 begins "High
profile campaigns have forced many of the major sports brands
to improve the way they do business when it comes to workers’
rights. Ruth Rosselson asks whether this is enough."
Green
Consumer
Dominic Murphy, p69 The
Guardian; May 22, 2004
Mentioned as second on the list for "mostly sensible
shoes" in the Guardian weekend "Green Consumer"
section. The article quotes vegan shoes as less green than leather
ones.
 Kicking
Against the System
Ian Aitch | The Independant | December 15, 2003
The journal of choice for the anti-globalisation movement,
Adbusters, has been sniping at the corporate world since way
back in the Eighties. On its pages you'll find subtly defaced
versions of ads for well-known brands and photographs of vandalised
billboards.
But the publication has now gone one step further, moving
from words and pictures to a far more direct form of confrontation.
Kalle Lasn, Adbusters' founder and a man usually more at home
in sandals than trainers, says his magazine's plan is to take
on the global sportswear giant Nike at its own game by manufacturing
a sneaker to rival one of the corporation's most popular brands.
the rest of this story to be added later
Is there
life after leather?
Simon Chilvers The
Guardian Friday October 17, 2003
Can you be a serious vegetarian - and seriously fashionable at
the same time? Simon Chilvers investigates
 Music
for Torching - blog April 16 2003
A pair of cool shoes arrived today from Veganline. Thank you,
Oh internet god and postal elves & vegan shoemaking goblins
Music
for Torching - blog April 15 2003
Bought some shoes from Ethical Wares and Veganline. Why is it
so hard to buy shoes that fit?
The Green Guide Product Report: Shoes
Carmela Federico National
Geographic, December 31st 2002
 For those concerned
about using animal products and who wish to avoid leather, vegan
shoes (made without leather or other animal products) are an
option. Web vendors include Veganline.com (www.veganline.com)
Ready,
steady, go
Beth Pearson, Fabienne Collignon; p. 8 The
Herald (Glasgow); Aug 3, 2002;
(© Scottish Media Newspapers, Ltd. and Scottish Media
Publishing Limited Aug 3, 2002; single article quoted as fair
use)
CONSIDERING that there are about four million vegetarians
and 1.25 million vegans in the UK and the numbers are constantly
growing, there's a need for quality, leather-free alternatives
to sport shoes.
Brands such as Dr Martens and Birkenstock (yes, they make
more than just hippy sandals) have been using polyurethane, ethyl
vinyl acetate and other synthetic materials for some time, but,
unfortunately, shoes like these aren't exactly available on every
street corner. We've found that the best way to track them down
is through a few useful UK-based websites.
Visit Vegansociety.com
and you'll find that they list a whole range of shops, virtual
and otherwise, that stock non-leather shoes. These cater for
all active lifestyles, with ranges of outdoor boots, athletic
shoes and trainers.
www. veganline.com offers a "white safety trainer",
which is described as "a hard-wearing, non-leather shoe
with a trainer look that isn't from the Far East" but it
actually looks like it's destined to be shipped off en masse
to catering companies.
Practical, but boring and androgynous, this trainer is not
for the fashion-conscious. For £60, one would at least
like to wear something that looks like it could be from this
decade. [...]
For an answer see ask.htm#16
 Consume:
Time Out, London
recommends the unique Bouncing
Boot in their shopping section leading to a rush of catalogue
requests. We don't have catalogues but do our best.
 Vegetarian
Journal, May 1998: Shoppers'
Guide To Leather Alternatives
Vegetarian Resource Group, USA
 Animal
Free Shopper listed in the printed editions from 1998
7.5.1998 - first surviving web site experiment.
This already includes old stock bought from Luxury Without
Leather and T'arus, the mail order company that had a stall on
Portobello Road. The excellent specially made Bouncing
Boots (Tredair® branded) muck-in with an embarrassingly
bad web site and curious other stock.
1.1.1998 - first bank account
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