As our world moves toward a more health aware, eco-conscious and animal friendly way of life, there is a rapidly growing demand for products that reflect this choice and lifestyle. It’s no longer just about the food we eat and making an effort to recycle. Being green is about cleaning up the planet one step at a time; no just opting for some green choices, but living green. Sure, you can reuse and recycle everything, grow and eat organic foods, and even choose cleaning products that do not harm the environment, but what about the clothes you wear? The shoes on your feet?

A big part of the green lifestyle has to do with love of and compassion for animals. We all know that the animal industry has an atrocious record of cruelty. The animals cannot speak for themselves; however, we humans can. We can take a stand against animal cruelty, demanding that their rights be recognized and upheld by refusing to wear fashions made with animal products.

Does this mean we have to sacrifice style? Not in the least! Instead of allowing animals to be mistreated and used as commodities rather than the beautiful creatures that they are, we can now purchase vegan shoes and other vegan products.

Vegan shoes are very popular these days.

Made only from plant-based materials such as hemp, and synthetic microfibers, vegan shoes are a great alternative to animal skins and leather. Often, they incorporate recycled materials such as the rubber from car tires in the soles, making vegan footwear as earth-friendly as possible. No one will know the difference just from looking at your shoes, since vegan shoes come in many of the same styles as their leather counterparts.

Vegan shoes are friendly to mother earth. Because they are bio-degradable and do not use any animal-based products, wearing vegan footwear is an important way you can minimize your environmental footprint. Vegan shoes are known for being durably constructed and long-lasting, unlike many cheap pairs of non-eco-friendly shoes. To top it off, these shoes are comfortable and stylish, too. To tread kindly on the earth, you don’t have to resort to wrapping your feet in unsightly or out-of-style footwear. Vegan shoes come in nearly every style imaginable, from sneakers to dress shoes. Using organic dyes, they also come in almost every color of the rainbow.

While the vegan fashion market is exploding year after year, it can still be difficult to find a wide selection of earth-friendly shoes in any store. It’s easy to find vegan footwear made with mother earth in mind when you turn to the internet. Today, more and more mainstream brands are offering vegan style options, including Asics, Keds, Earth, Madden Girl, Birkenstocks, Saucony, and Wallister, just to name a few! Will eco-friendly feet be unkind to your bottom line? Not at all! You certainly don’t have to go broke to buy and wear vegan footwear. There is something to fit every budget, so you can walk around knowing you are being kind to the animals and the Earth while looking stylish and keeping your wallet intact.