I always find it surprising that the companies that are unfair to their workers or economically unfriendly such as Gap or Crocs (is that the name of the company?) are the ones that make some of the most comfortable stuff.

Anyway, great piece, Dad. Keep up the good work.

-Tiana

Yep. That's the driver for all this mayhem.

5 year olds.

And, pray, how exactly do 5 year old children come wield such vast global power?

Oh, yeah, by means of the same highly concentrated mass media which also convinces them that they must wear cosmetics, diet, compare name brands with their peers to maintain status, and clamor after clothing which should shame a full-grown hooker.

If that doesn't scare ya'll nothing else will.

Just saying - the Green-ness of something is only to the degree that someone is willing to make that use of it. AFAIK all old shoes including Jerusalem Cruisers and other hippy shoes all wind up in the dump.

really? not saturated in n cali yet? it all started in boulder - i was there a couple years ago and everyone was wearing these gross bright plastic clogs. stores that didn't sell shoes had 10 colors of them in the window. i remember thinking that i was glad i lived in nyc where, due to superior fashion sensibilities, they could never catch on. i was pretty sure california was doomed though.

They create less visual pollution than Ugs, which Californians embranced with a mania.

They're PLASTIC. Yeah, they have vents, but they're not mesh--they still DON'T BREATHE.

I'll bet they get really smelly really fast.

but reports say they are very comfortable AND offer superior arch support.

They aren't rigid plastic (like my gardening shoes that REALLY hurt my feet), but soft plastic that molds to the shape of your foot.

I find my Keens offer the best arch support and comfort, but I'm always looking for more good arch support, so I'll check them out.

And if I do buy them, I won't blame the media, buy my own free will.

And waterproof, easy to clean, water-durable

They are light, extremely comfortable, and have good arch support. I've owned my pair for about two years and they aren't smelly. If they did get smelly, it's easy to wash them because they are completely waterproof... so scrub 'em out or set them in a bleach solution for a while.

The environmental answer to the shoes is:

What are they replacing? For me, I've go through a pair of slippers in about a year. I wear the crocs instead and have skipped buying two pairs of slippers with at least a couple more to go.

Buy just enough. They are made from a petrolium-based (for now) resin and no good means for recycling exists yet (though I bet you could make "mulch" from them http://www.internationalmulch.com/). So, despite the craze, use the ones you have until end of life before replacing them.

Buy the brand. As noted, Crocs is the innovator here. By paying the brand premium, you are telling the company you are willing to reward them for their work. That gives them the latitude to research recycleable materials for manufacturing.

And talk to the company. With the advances in corn-oil products and recycling there's a good chance that the company can move in that direction and other green directions. But they need to know it's a concern for their customer base.

And finally... they're not any uglier than any other clog or garden shoe! ;-)

There may be few Crocs in north Berkeley, but I can testify that you can't move in the Elmwood without tripping over a pair of Crocs.

Dear Editor:

I was admiring the latest models in the Simple Shoes brand of footwear during a recent visit to Nordstrom, and only mildly annoyed by the cloying "Granola not included" tagline imprinted inside the tongue. Further examination escalated the annoyance to rage: another stamp revealed the shoes as "Made in China."

While I admire the efforts of this "nice little shoe company (TM)" to use "green" materials," and promote environmental sustainability, I feel that this progress is offset by the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from importing the finished product from China, and an overall contribution to an unsustainable global trade imbalance that threatens the future security of our country.

While I have been guilty of buying leather shoes from Italy in the past, I'm not going to change one questionable behavior for another -- especially when one is promoted on a false premise of sustainability that is the marketing ploy of Simple-mania.