Simple Shoes has been quietly making the most sustainable footwear in the US for the past few years, while also making some serious loot. Apparently hippies have more money than one would think, or, eco shoes aren’t just for hippies anymore. Either way, Damian Joseph of BusinessWeek.com dove deep into the company’s BIO-D collection only to discover the formula for crafting a greener shoe line is actually super Simple…

Simple Shoes (DECK) has always been against something. When the company made its debut in 1991, it was against gaudy, futuristic sneakers and coveted logos. In 2005, it came out against using materials that trash the Earth. Both moves paid off handsomely, lifting sales. Now the subsidiary of Deckers Outdoors is turning against stuff that lasts longer than people do, with a line of biodegradable shoes set for next spring.

Rubber can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. Simple is cutting its lifespan to 20 years with its new EcoPure technology. Licensed from Bio-Tec Environmental, an Albuquerque, N.M., company, EcoPure is an organic compound with tiny microbes that eat away at the bonds that hold rubber, plastic, and EVA (a vinyl/rubber-like material) together. It works only under the hot and humid conditions of typical landfills and leaves behind nothing but dirt.

Simple is adding EcoPure to the soles of most of its shoes and flip flops, starting with a new line that highlights the technology: BIO-D. The company has plenty of reasons to think this will boost revenue. Its last green line—Earth-friendly shoes called Planet Walkers, which came out in 2008—helped push Simple’s sales up by 27.4% last year, to $17.2 million, from $13.5 million in 2007.

shipping boots to big retailers

National Sales Manager Brad Little hardly thinks Simple’s eco-concern is the company’s only reason for success. He says only 10% to 15% of its customers are green buyers. More important, he says, is designing shoes that are sufficiently good-looking that customers will pull them off a store shelf to begin with. “You have to compete on the same playing field as other companies—with materials and functions,” he says. “If you’re not on that level, sustainability isn’t going to get you there.”

Continue reading Simple Shoes Leaps Forward by Damian Joseph at BusinessWeek.com…

Shoemakers over the past fifty years have come to rely heavily on harsh chemical glues, dyes, and leather treatments to mass produce footwear. There are certainly a few eco superstars crafting truly sustainable shoes, like the Green Toe line from Simple Shoes and the handmade sandals from Chicago-based Mohop. What these lines don’t provide much of is the hot factor. For many years, fashionistas have tossed aside their well-meaning desires to save the planet in the search for a pair of hot shoes for a date, cocktail party, or those random moments when a trip to the grocery store requires four-inch stilettos to get the job done. Now at long last, Animal Planet-obsessed fashion hounds have an answer to their footwear needs…

Beyond Skin has created a line of uber fabulous footwear that is stitched, lasted and finished by hand in a small, family-run factory in East London. Started by Brit makeup artist Natalie Dean back in 2001 in an effort to create stylish vegan shoes, Beyond Skin has evolved over the years from just cruelty-free to eco-conscious, too. So often, vegan-centric shoe lines are manufactured with tons of attention paid to saving animals from the slaughterhouse and zero attention paid to preserving the environment in which the animals live.

If you are anywhere near San Francisco next week, you’ve got to carpool, train, bus, or bike over to Green Fest. This green marketplace meets trade show meets sustainable lifestyle conference is a must-attend for the West Coast eco-conscious community.

There will be over 100 eco fashion companies from all over the country including Alchemy Goods, Indigenous Designs, Kate Organic, Autonomie Project, Simple Shoes, Mission Playground, Helen Riegle, and Green Guru. There are amazing deals to be had, especially on Sunday afternoon, when vendors are willing to wheel and deal in order to reduce the weight of the inventory for their schlep home. You can get samples of all kinds of new products: food, beverages, beauty products, bodycare, media.

What I love most about Green Festival is getting a chance to connect directly with the founders, CEO’s, and craftspeople behind all my favorite products. Putting a face and story to my favorite yerba maté, straw fedora, organic soap, yogurt, or toothpaste really makes my shopping experience back home much more rewarding. I feel like I’m supporting my friends, as well as their missions that I’ve come to know, from conserving old growth rainforest to cleaning up rivers to backing sustainable farmers.

In our ongoing series, Green Your Closet 2008, we’ve explored how to lessen the environmental impact of your wardrobe by recycling clothing, laundering your garments properly, and finding affordable eco fashion. In this installment, we’re gonna show you how you can save your soles and accept a cobbler as your personal friend and savior. Yes, it is nearly a religious experience to resurrect your favorite pair of McCartneys, Miu Mius, or Merrells at your local shoe repair shop. You can transform shoes so beaten down by years of abuse they could be lost to a landfill, into fresh, clean kicks ready for another three years of blissful wear. Heavenly, I tell you.

So, where to begin? Your closet, of course. Do you any boots that could use a resoling or side zippers that need to be replaced? Maybe a strap has popped out of the sole of your favorite sandals and needs to be reanchored, or a dingy pair of Adidas needs a fresh pair of shoelaces to make them wearable again. Be aware that some fine, service-oriented companies like Mohop, may repair them for you. If you think your shoes fall into the Mom-And-Pop, luxury, or handmade categories, check their website to see if they’ll do the repairs in-house. Otherwise, you’ll need to find a quality cobbler near you. Use the Shoe Service Institute of America’s shoe repair shop locator. Just enter your zipcode and SSIA will serve you up a list of experienced solesavers in your neck of the woods.

It’s true there’s no more virtuous choice, environmentally-speaking, than making good with what you’ve already got. The second best option is to get high quality shoes on consignment. Consignment shops like Couture USA and Rodeo Drive Resale offer lightly used, designer goods at a fraction of the price. Jimmy Choo, here we come! Thankfully, there’s more and more high-quality sustainable shoe manufacturers coming online each season. Green Toe by Simple, Terra Plana, and Charmone are all companies dedicated to seeking out the most sustainable materials and manufacturing methods possible, while still managing to serve up up a healthy dose of style. Now if you only buy used or eco fabulous shoes from now on, be kind to them, and repair them for years to come, you may just make it into heaven after all for being so good!

Note how attending Catholic school for only one year in pre-school has affected my take on the eco fashion world. Curious. I could probably use a few Hail Manolos, I mean, Marys. (Darn it.)

So you’re back on campus and in need of some essential school supplies-new shoes, a bag, a hot party ensemble? You’re sure that once you obtain these key study tools, your semester will go swimmingly. Well, Greenloop definitely has the ideal pieces to make you a better student (or at least just look like one.)

The Abalone Top by EcoSkin is perfect for a stud-filled study group, an afterschool cocktail hour, or blowing off academic traumas at the local nightclub. Made of eco fibers bamboo and tencel, the Abalone Top is sleek, sexy and sustainable. This hot little number from EcoSkin deserves to be matched with some very affordable organic cotton jeans from Good Society. Good Society denim is designed in Japan and made in India, which is one of the biggest hubs in the world for organic cotton. The two pieces together are sheer genius.

If clothes make the man, then shoes make the woman (happy). Rushing through the quad each day will call for kicks that are both cute and comfortable. These adorable strappy Toepaz flats by green design gurus Simple Shoes are made of hemp, recycled tires, and bamboo. Dress ‘em up, dress ‘em down, these vegan zapatos are gonna make your studymates green with envy. Oh darn.

Clearly your new mountain of scholarly tomes is going to require a bag strong enough to handle the weight and cool enough to erase the overloaded-with-books dork factor. What could be more perfect than the Vy & Elle “Bookman”? This utilitarian messenger bag gets points for both convenience and cool. It features pockets-within-pockets to help organize all your school supplies, and each Bookman sports one-of-a-kind graphics. Vy & Elle produces their entire line from recycled PVC billboards, upcycling material headed for the landfill and transforming it into wearable art. Pretty smart. In the case of sustainable design, fashion may indeed inspire academic greatness…Or it could just make you feel more enthusiastic about actually attending class.