At last, there is a viable option for the style conscious set searching for both fairly traded and environmentally responsible footwear. Veja sneakers have a retro flair and are produced using fair labor, organic cotton, and enviro-friendly techniques, materials and practices.
The Paris-based company works directly with Brazilian cooperatives to source the eco-friendly materials for the shoes--organic cotton and natural, wild latex from the Amazon. Veja (portuguese for "see") also uses eco-leather: chrome-free leather tanned with organic compounds.
Veja adheres to Fair Trade manufacturing practices such as paying a living wage and establishing long term, sustainable relationships with producer partners. Production of organic cotton for the sneakers provides employment to 89 families employed by two cooperatives in Tauá, a small town in the impoverished Northeast of the country...
The wild latex comes from the the Chico Mendes reserve in the Amazon forest, the only place on earth where the Hevea (latex tree) grows in a wild state. Using Amazonia wild latex--which is renewable and biodegradable--is a fundamental way to fight rain forest deforestation and provide meaningful employment to the Seringueiros who have collected latex for more than two hundred years.
