How Can You Wear Leather And Be Green? An Interview With Katleen From www.georgette.be

Katleen Baum and her twin sister Liesbet run georgette, an online and real world shop in Antwerp which specialises in animal friendly footwear. The website is a delight. Handily written in English, you navigate with a flea circus and clicking on a link can give you a nice surprise. Oh, and the shoes are great too. Here Katleen spoke to Life Goggles about reconciling veganism with wearing leather.

“Ever since we were kids, we were always fascinated with fashion and shoes. And also with animals. From the moment we realised that the animal we saw in the country, ended up on our dinner plates, we did not want to eat it anymore. So we became vegetarian and evolved to veganism. No biggie, right? But as time progresses, you start to question other things…

Every vegetarian or vegan, some day, will be confronted with the same dilemma: how to reconcile a strict vegetarian-vegan diet with wearing leather?

Especially for fashion and shoe addicts like us, this is quite a hard nut to crack! So at first, you try to ignore the issue. It’s just too hard to find a nice nonleather shoe, right? But your conscience doesn’t leave you alone. So you start to do some research.

Apparently leather, as often stated, is not just a slaughterhouse byproduct, it is a booming industry. Wearing leather shoes contributes to factory farms, slaughterhouses and a lifetime of suffering for the animal. The meat and leather industry is no friend of the environment either. According to a UN report from November ‘06, the livestock business is among the most damaging sectors to global warming and land and water degradation. Animal wastes, antibiotics, hormones, fertilizers and pesticides cause serious water and land pollution.

The process of turning animal skins into leather shares all the environmental destruction of the meat industry: dangerous mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, cyanide-based oils and dyes, chrome and other damaging products are used. Also the tanning is an intensive chemical process that causes toxic waste.

Fashion, for us, should be fun, not cruel, nor harmful…so the decision not to wear leather then came quite easily.

But where to find stylish, high quality shoes without leather? Most nonleather shoes have a bad reputation: they are ‘unfashionable’, from ‘poor quality’ and made with ‘cheap, exploited labour’. Encountering ’stylish’, ‘high quality’ shoes that are ‘completely animal-free’ and ‘handmade in Europe’ seems not so easy!

After a long and unfruitful search for vegan shoes according to our strict demands, we decided to explore the shoe sector ourselves and investigate the possibilities. Many shoe factories believed we were crazy… quality shoes without leather? Impossible!

But after a while we were blessed to meet a few Italian and Spanish, mostly very small and family-run shoe companies who decided to give us a chance. We encountered nonleather materials that have evolved so much: they are soft, durable, absorbing, and gentle to the environment! They had nothing to do with cheap, unbreathing plastic (pvc) that is also highly polluting to the environment. Those new materials could be used for elegant, high quality vegan shoes…and georgette was born!

We named our shoe store after our grandmother Georgette. She always was a true shoe addict. We were always playing dress-up in her fabulous pumps and sandals. Now, she is 80 years old and she still wears ‘over the top’ stiletto-heels in lots of different colours and patterns. Our friends and family were convinced our shoe-obsession was of a genetical kind. Hence the name.

With georgette, we aim to prove that wearing high-quality and chic footwear can easily be combined with a compassionate lifestyle. Together with small family-run companies in Italy and Spain, we work out exclusive collections that are made in the best nonleather and eco-friendly materials, like natural fabrics and luxurious Italian faux leathers. Super-stylish, animal-friendly and 100% sweatshop-free!”

Again the website is www.georgette.be and I can’t wait for them to start doing men’s shoes too.

Green World Bags Product Review

Green World Bags make reusable bags that are shaped like US paper grocery bags.

However they’re made from sturdier material (durable, non-woven materials, with reinforced straps and a sturdy liner), that will withstand more than a year of weekly usage and they hold the equivalent of 2-3 plastic bags. This translates to an annual reduction of approximately 700 plastic bags for the average family

Run by sisters Trina Koller and Trudy Balestreri in my new home town of San Diego, Green World Bags set out to make great looking bags that are practical and long lasting. They have a variety of fantastic silk-screen printed designs that make them much more interesting that other bags, but not more expensive.

When they finally wear out, they can be recycled. A four pack only costs $19.95 (or $7.50 each) from Green World Bags.

LetsGoGreen Eco Product Reviews

LetsGoGreen is a business that believe their products can make a positive difference one home at a time. They’re environmentally friendly, and are selected specifically for use in every room in the house.

We were sent a few items to take a look at. Their 100% Recycled Toilet Paper is free of dyes, inks and fragrances and is recycled without chlorine or bleaching. Frankly, as far as I can tell, this was the same as the non-recycled type, so there is absolutely no reason not to switch from the non-recycled type which are cutting down ancient forests. If every home in America changed just one roll for a recycled roll, then it would save a million trees a year.

Another no-brainer is to switch to Ecosafe degradable trash bags. We have the 13-gallon Tall Kitchen Bags. Ecosafe bags are just like regular plastic bags, except that they will totally degrade and compost in 12 to 24 months. They contain an additive called DCP which remains dormant until triggered by sufficient UV light, heat or mechanical stress. The bags leave no toxic or harmful residue.

Finally, I’m getting quite good at looking at reusable bags. Their canvas totes are made in the U.S.A. and are grocery-sized and sturdy. Dimensions are 18″ L x 7″ W x 17.5″ H (with 13″ handles), and carries quite a lot. I actually also use it to carry other reusable bags around in

A four pack of 100% Recycled Toilet Paper is only $2.39 (on sale), Ecosafe kitchen or trash bags start at only $2.99 and the reusable canvas tote $9.99 from LetsGoGreen.biz. Plus they have a 25% off FRIEND discount on!

Ecover Floor Soap Eco Product Review

I’d never been one for floor soap before, but I recently rented a flat that hadn’t a single carpet in the place. So, being too lazy to make my own cleaner, I tried Ecover’s floor soap.

You only need to add a capful or two to a whole bucket full of water so a little goes a long way. Although it says it’s not suitable for laminate flooring, I gave it a go over everything – laminate, tiles, varnished wood etc and it seems fine.

Now Ecover products always say what they’re made from (see below for full list of ingredients), but non of the other products I’ve used have quite the lemon smell that this one does. In its raw form it’s overpowering and even when diluted and I’ve cleaned the whole floor of my flat it’s best to go out for a while. Not that it’s a bad smell, just a bit strong and it does say it’s got “fresh perfume from plant based ingredients”.

Leaving it dry, I returned later to find a nice clean home. It did take some harder mopping to get some marks out, but general grime and mud was no problem. Having not used another type of floor cleaner before it’s difficult to compare but I had no problems with it, the smell was reduced after I’d finished so it was quite a pleasant and “clean” smell.

It’s fully biodegradable and not tested on animals. The plastic bottle can be recycled (I’d be happier if it had already been recycled) and like other Ecover products it can be refilled where facilities exist.

The Ecover website gives a complete ingredients list:

The list below displays ingredients in descending order, with those present in highest quantities first.
Linseed oil
Perfume
Limonene
Nitromethylidynetrimethanol
2-bromo-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol
Citral
Geraniol

It’s now stocked in most supermarkets or you can buy it easily online.

How To Package A Green Product

This post is the first in our new content partnership with the Green Options network which is a community dedicated to environmental resources, education, and discussion. This post first appeared on Ecopreneurist.

We’re green entrepreneurs right? We eschew over-packaging. We skip the plastic overwrap. We limit the packing materials. We think reusable.

But…will consumers pay for it?

A recent Nielsen study shows that half of all US consumers would give up all convenience packaging if it would benefit the environment.

• 58 percent feel that packaging designed for easy stacking/storing at home is dispensable
• 55 percent would give up packaging that can be used for cooking, or doubling as a re-sealable container
• 53 percent don’t need packaging designed for easy transport

As green company business owners we try to make every aspect of our products green, including how they are packaged. Often that means thinking reusable. That may not always be the smartest choice if it increases product cost, especially as prices for everything from raw materials to transportation are increasing these days.

On the other hand, some consumers will pay extra if the package provides selected benefits. But, notice not even half of all consumers would.

At the same time, the study finds that:

• 26 percent of U.S. consumers are least willing to give up packaging designed to keep products clean and untouched by other shoppers
• 31 percent want to keep packaging designed to keep products in good condition
• 31 percent want to keep packaging that preserves products to make them last longer and stay fresher
• 33 percent need packaging information, including food labeling

As the market for green products get more competitive green entrepreneurs have to spend more time considering how packaging impacts their cost of doing business. Limiting materials makes sense. Increasing the cost of your product with something consumers aren’t willing to pay for, when big high volume companies are suddenly your competitors, does not.

Get 2 for 1 Tickets At UK Aware

Life Goggles is offering you 2for1 on tickets at UK Aware in London on the 10-11 May. UK Aware is a massive green event with stalls, events, promotions and speakers from the green world. Tickets are normally £5 each but using the Life Goggles promotional code LG241 when purchasing tickets here, you’ll get two tickets for the price of one. See you there!

Solar Powered Purses

While we don’t do free promotional spots for companies that contact us without doing some hands on testing of their products, we do come across some cool looking companies sometimes. Noon Solar create biodegradable bags with flexible solar panels for charging your phone or mp3 player whilst on the go.

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