Barefoot Shoe Misadventures

We’re quite the eco minded family. We are constantly striving to make better choices when we purchase anything;

• Is it ethically made?
• Is it sustainably made?
• Are they plastic free or striving towards it?
• What’s the company’s ethos?
• What’s their packaging like?
• What’s the impact on the environment?
• How long will it last?
• How much does it cost?

Overall we look at whether it’s worth investing in something more expensive than buying cheap and buying twice?

Well…

You’re not going to like this but we think it might all be bollocks!

We, like many others, have been lured in by conscious brands in targeted social media ads telling us what shoes we should be wearing, what shoes our kids should be wearing and we fell for it. We fell hard.

In the past 18 months we’ve bought over a dozen pairs of shoes from these eco minded and forward thinking brands and not a single pair has lasted..

In fact they’ve all spectacularly fallen apart within a few months.

More disappointingly each company we’ve dealt with is hard work too as their customer service is often slow and tedious and you lose the will to live before concluding a conversation. It’s very frustrating to see our hard earned pennies go straight in the bin within 6 months.

One of the unique selling points from one of these brands is that the kids shoes are meant to last; they’re specially designed to be able to passed down to a younger sibling or they could be sold on. It is extremely desirable. There are 3 kids in this house and the potential monetary savings for that alone as amazing…

… Well, we can’t comment on that, not in this house, not a single kids pair has lasted much longer than a school term and our boys aren’t even particularly hard on their shoes!

The soles have fallen off, the seams have split the top of the shoe has literally ripped open, we’ll not mention the laces or the hook and loop fastening that’s just come apart in their hands… not a single brand has delivered on a well made shoe.

They’re all just pretty bits of landfill essentially!

A positive from all this is that we all love walking barefoot, especially the kids – we have ALL noticed a difference in this respect, but we can’t continue to do this.

We simply can’t afford it and we can’t justify it either, not any more. This has got to be one of the most costly and wasteful decisions we’ve ever made. We tried, is the best we can say about this at the moment!

We know they’re supposed to made consciously with the environment in mind but if they can’t last even a year then what’s the point?

How is that better?

We’ve bought different styles, we’ve bought different sizes, we’ve sent shoes back, we’ve complained and exchanged and we’ve given them second chances.

No more.

We’re done.

Buying cheap may mean buying twice but that’ll still work out better overall than buying poor quality shoes off an Insta Ad just because it’s looks pretty in a square and some catchy tag line makes you think this is a good choice for the planet.

So, apologies for the negativity in this post but upon reflection our reasoning to invest in better shoes for us and our children has just overall been a poor life decision.

Emphasis on the word poor.

If anyone can recommend a barefoot friendly shoe brand that actually delivers a quality shoe that lasts more than a year, (or a school term) we’d love to hear from you!

Jo (& Mark)

TeamWorrall

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