Vegan shoes (was (unknown))

[Guest guest]

>>>> Hi everyone, I was looking at this email and I realized it's

difficult to find things shoes especially that don't contain leather if

I were not to go all the way with being a vegan what would I be called?

Not that it matters I'm just curious. I wouldn't be eating dairy eggs or

any other animal products, but I don't know if I want to worry about the

expense of throwing out my tennis shoes considering I'm in college and

don't have the money to buy more right now. Am I a bad vegan? <<<<

 

Of course you're not a bad vegan. What matters is what you do from now

on. The past is over.

 

There are many issues to consider when making the change to a vegan way

of life. This is one of those cases where the " right " course of action

isn't clearcut. One big consideration is the environment. The advice for

reducing our carbon footprint is to reduce, reuse and recycle. On the

other hand, many vegans will advocate getting rid of all leather because

of animal rights concerns.

 

I certainly respect the AR point of view, but I think it overlooks

environmental impact. My personal opinion is to keep the shoes until

they wear out, then make your new shoe purchases vegan. Now, you've

already bought those tennis shoes. If you get rid of them, they'll

either get used by someone else or they'll end up in a landfill. To my

way of thinking, throwing them out is a waste of resources. So, if

someone's going to be wearing them, it might as well be you.

 

Interestingly, I was just chatting with a friend about how long I'd had

a pair of Birkenstocks. I'm pretty sure I bought them in 1989. I've had

them half-soled and they're still going strong. If I replaced them, it

would involve use of fossil fuels for manmade shoe parts and shipping.

Trees would have to be felled for packaging. My carbon footprint is much

smaller if I just keep schlepping around in the old Birks until such

time as they wear out, I go to meet my maker, or hell freezes over,

whichever comes first.

 

Cheers,

 

Trish