Ecosneaks are the newest product from Simple Shoes. The Ecosneaks Sno Tires are made from washed leather and organic canvas uppers, organic cotton lining, PET laces and pedbeds. The outer sole is made from recycled cart tires. The paper pulp foot forms keep your shoes in place.
There are four colors for the lowtops and 3 for the hightops. I have the dark earth, which are perfect for work or play. They are like shoes and sneakers in one. They are comfortable and feel nice and snug on my feet. The only gripe I have is that the PET laces seem to come undone more than other shoes. Maybe it’s just me?
The colors selections are earthy. I really like the black ones too. I love when companies turn plastic bottles into other fibers, don’t you?
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Mike, you must work for Simple Shoes.
I know you’re not supposed to say anything mean about the environment, but I’ve got to put it out there: Ecosneaks are the crappiest — that’s THE crappiest — shoes I’ve bought in over a decade. They hurt my feet terribly the entire time I had them. Fortunately, that wasn’t too long because they promptly decomposed after 2 months. I guess they’re not really made for walking. They’re more like driving shoes.
hi there. love the site and all the info. so i thought i would pass along the good karma. for an amazing pair of eco-footwear why not mention sole rebels. sole rebels are produced in ethiopia by disadvantaged artisans and disabled veterans (hence their name solerebels) . they have re-invented the traditional selate (traditional used tire sole shoe indigenous in Ethiopia ) in some incredible ways while operating in fair trade manner.
Their products have been available at http://www.urbanoutfitters.com and this summer they were selling at all the urban outfitters retail locations across the US – I saw them in Santa Monica myself and they are great. Even bought a few pairs
You can see them online you can look at the mens section on the urban outfitters website at ww.urbanoutfitters.com – go to flip flops and look for sole rebels. or you can type “sole rebel” into the search function on the urban site….. urban also gave them big props for their fair trade practices.
they also have their products in selected Whole Foods especially here in austin texas where i live and i also saw that amazon’s new footwear brand http://www.endless.com is carrying soleRebels and the collection they have is extensive and the products are amazing. [ How they managed to make a tire soled shoe look so stylish I can only waonder in awe!!!] . not bad at all to have some of the top US retailers carrying their products.
doing a little nosing around i found out that sole rebels were featured in endless vacation magazine and also in their online edition this past month -http://www.endlessvacation.com/TravelTactics/article.aspx?id=Beach_Gear - where their fair trade practices were again lauded .
they also have been given some other interesting media coverage once by New York Times consumed columnist rob walker [ http://www.murketing.com/journal/?m=200703 ] and one by sarah rich from worldchanging.com [ http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006569.html ]
after I bought their summer sandals at Urban Outfitters I wrote them an email telling them how much I liked the products and guess what- their founders , brother + sister team kiru & Bethlehem wrote me back , complete with a catalog of their new styles and an extensive history of their company which is both an inspiring and heartbreaking read . Everyone should be blessed with even one ounce of the “sole” these folks have !
me personally i like the idea of a small developing country maximizing their heritage + resources and supplying their own brand name footwear direct to us retailers + consumers . it sure beats nameless + faceless [ did i mention soul-less] Chinese factories producing brand named stuff for our faceless corporations . and MUCH better than all the AID driven stuff that countries like ethioipia seem to be known for. and their tagline is “making the world a better place. One step at a time”!!!! who could argue with that. I say good for sole rebels !!!!
keep on with the tips!!!
I actually own these. My advice would be to order a size or two larger than you usally wear and get insoles. If you do that these are da bomb. If not and the thin soles may have your feet sore after moderately long walks.
As far as the crazy PET laces…while they look like they should be coming untied more often, a little double-knot action has prevented that from ever occurring.
Lastly, the bottom looks exactly like the tire it was made from. This not only looks cool but leaves pretty sweet footprints.