New shoes, new ideas

After blogging about throwing out shoes, I've been thinking about solving the problem at source – when I buy.

Recently I needed new sneakers, so after a bit of humming and ha-ing I bought some Vejas from Starfish. These are super eco-shoes: soles of wild natural rubber from the Amazon, organic cotton and vege-tanned leather uppers. I was surprised the box didn't play me the sound of the rainforest when I opened it.

They were also quite expensive.

I was reminded of this post on green fashion by Chris Lawrence (who really needs to change the name of his blog to something more positive).

And I reckon he's right.

I don't need fancy organic-this and recycled-that shoes with a cleverly written label to make me feel good and prop up my eco-cred. I just need to find some good, hard-wearing shoes that don't look like instant landfill fodder.

Oh, and did I mention pretty? :)

So what's a girl to do? Where can I get long-lasting shoes? Any ideas?