Condo Blues: 11 PVC Plastic Free Shoes for Back to School

Thursday, August 19, 2010

11 PVC Plastic Free Shoes for Back to School

When I buy a plastic item, I check for the recycling number 3 which stands for PVC (polyvinyl chloride.) If the item is made from PVC, I don’t buy it.

It is unlikely that I will lick my shoes and inject PVC. If I do I think my problems are bigger than ingesting PVC plastic! However, I might if I handle those PVC shoes by putting them in the closet and then inadvertently put my finger in my mouth or eat an apple or something. Then I’m transfer PVC particles from the shoe to my hands to that apple and right into me.



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It’s just easier to avoid buying shoes made with PVC. Fortunately, many companies make PVC free shoes. I was happy to find that many of these shoes are already in my closet including my husband's favorite brand of running shoes!

1. Adidas (learn more about them here) Their sandals the have EVA (Ethylene-vinyl acetate), rubber outsoles; their sneakers have molded EVA insoles and midsoles. I personally have a pair and love them. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this pot for your convenience)



2. Asics (you can get them here) All Asics products are PVC-free. They contain bamboo, canvas, EVA, leather, or rubber.  My husband has worn Asics ever since he started running . It is such a quality, supportive athletic shoe when he runs 21 miles a week, that he convinced me to buy a pair for my summer marching band uniform. He's right!


3. Birkenstocks (get them for the whole family here) The uppers made from  Birko-Flor material (acrylic and PA (polyamides)  leather, or wool. The Footbed is made from cork, leather, or jute. The soles are made from EVA or PU (polyurethane.) They are expensive but are extremely supportive (my doctor recommended I wear them when recovering from an injury.) I've had a shoe repair resole mine several times to make them last. In my opinion they are well worth the price.

4. Crocs (leran more here) Crocs made from Croslite resins contain EVA. Some Crocs have a rubber sole. Be careful because some Croc knockoffs are made out of PVC. Many of the charms sold to decorate Crocs are also made with PVC.

5. Ecolution  The shoes are made from hemp, plant-based dyes, and recycled tires.

6. L.L. Bean (learn more here)  All L.L. Bean shoes are PVC-free.

7. Nike (learn more here)  Nike products are PVC-free.

8. Rawganique (check them out here)  The shoes are made from hemp and recycled tires.

9. Simple Shoes All Simple Shoes are PVC-free. They are made from bamboo, cotton, hemp, and recycled rubber.

10. Puma (learn more here) The uppers are canvas, mesh, PU, or suede. The outsoles are EVA or rubber.

11. Feelgoodz (buy them here)– Feelgoodz are 100% natural latex rubber. I’ve been wearing Feelgoodz constantly for two summers and still love them. They are a great little company that got hurt by the Gulf oil spill. If you know you and yours will need some new flops for next summer, it would be awesome if you buy them now and keep them for next year to help a little company that is the type of socially responsible business I like to stay in business. They are not asking me to say this, I’m doing it on my own because I really like what Feelgoodz does and how they do it.
pvc plastic free shoe ideas for men, women, boys, girls


How do you avoid PVC plastic? Have you been surprised to find PVC plastic in any items around you? Do you have a PVC free shoe to add to the list?

This post is part of the August 23rd Back to School Green Moms Carnival hosted by Micaela of Mindful Momma.

Disclaimer. None of the companies or organizations mentioned in this post paid me or asked me to write about them.

6 comments :

Michelle said...

Thanks for the reminder! I haven't even thought about checking our shoes (and I try to forgo plastic as much as possible).

I am loving your blog - I found you through Glue and Glitter and have added you to my feedly. I get so excited when I find new green bloggers I haven't read before!

Peace. ;)
Michelle @ greenearthbazaar.com

Robj98168 said...

I love LL BEAN's shoes. They feel good on my feet!

Lori aka Groovy Green Livin said...

What a great thing to think about....PVC free shoes! I was happy to see that our shoes made the list.

Meredith said...

This is SO helpful! Thanks you for finding these and making it easy for us to know which shoes are good for the environment.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this list. I went sneaker shopping for my 1st grader today and couldn't tell what was pvc and what wasn't. Do you know if New Balance kids sneakers contain pvc?

Anonymous said...

Do you know how many other things you probably put in your mouth from your hands every day? PVC is nothing compared to what else is out there that you can't see.

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