These shoes are advertised on a number of green-oriented sites, but there is nothing eco-friendly about the production of leather.  Quite apart from the suffering and death of the cattle involved -- who for their part are the biggest contributing factor to global warming -- tanning is a nasty chemical-intensive process at best.  Note that the environmentally somewhat better practices of the tanners who contribute to these shoes have to do with the disposal of their chemicals, not the chemicals themselves. Don't get me started on the contents of the footbed.  That cushy polyurethane is a petrolem product.  Rubber is a rainforest product.  I'm just saying. It's too bad we can't have it both ways, because these are really cute shoes.  As Steve Goodman used to sing, your heart is in the right place, but your head is up your .....  "Satire" is a pretty good name for these shoes.