Sustainability with Barefoot Shoes – The Vivobarefoot GOBI III Hemp Boots have been sent for review.
The Benefits of Wearing Barefoot Shoes
Our feet take on a lot. From walking and running to jumping or dancing and much more. Most everyday shoes are cushioned, narrow and rigid in design, and this means our feet aren’t using their natural strength and function. It’s not something I ever really thought about before trying barefoot shoes to be honest, because it is just the norm for our shoes to be so supportive. Read some science behind it here.
Barefoot style shoes are designed to be wide, thin and flexible to get as close to being barefoot as possible. When I first tried barefoot shoes, it was like I’d forgotten how to walk. It felt so strange. I find my initial pair of trainer style ones perfect for in the gym though. It makes my movements much more natural.
Since starting up bouldering again, natural foot movement and strength is something that is now a little more at the front of my mind. When I’m on those tiny little foot holds, I need my feet to be strong and for my toes to have that grip to keep me on the wall. I don’t use barefoot shoes on the wall, though I would guess they’re not too far off.
Vivobarefoot say ‘There is a powerful sensory connection between the feet and the brain and thus, our movement and place in the world.’
The GOBI III Hemp Women’s boot
The Gobi III Hemp is a minimalist desert boot style shoe from Vivobarefoot. Made from a natural hemp canvas material with a recycled cotton lining, these boots are completely vegan, which is always a positive for me. The colour shown here is the pink graphite.
These boots use Vivobarefoot’s thinnest barefoot outsole so they give you total barefoot movement and sensory. They’re so lightweight and easily packable, making them the perfect shoe for travelling with. You can also search through their sections to find barefoot shoes for women if you’re wanting a particular style.
These barefoot style boots are comfortable to wear, and they do actually feel sturdier than I expected. You can definitely feel the ground more when walking, but your feet will feel fully protected still. The pink colour in this version is also quite subtle, so I think they will match a good amount of different outfits. Again, perfect for travel as a shoe you can easily slot into your case!
On the website you can run through a size checker to get the perfect fit against other shoes you currently wear. It told me to go for a 5, and this is a great fit for me so I’d definitely advise on using that for the best barefoot shoe fitting if you’re looking to try them.
See the Vivobarefoot range here.
Learn about Sustainable Tourism
SUSTAINABILITY
I’m trying to look into more about sustainability with where I’m buying from. It’s quite a steep learning curve I find with so much information out there, so when companies are more upfront about what they are doing it really helps.
Vivobarefoot is a B Corporation(™) Certified business for good. B corp(™) are for-profit companies that use the power of business to build more inclusive and sustainable economy. Companies in the B Corp community meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.
Vivobarefoot focus on natural, recycled and bio-based materials to make their shoes. Not all their shoes are vegan due to leather being used on some styles.
This leather comes from free roaming cattle reared by families and communities around Ethiopia and they only use leathers that are by-products of the meat industry. Whilst leather still isn’t something that I personally like to buy, it’s good to know upfront how they source it.
This page on regeneration is really interesting to see what Vivobarefoot are doing as a company and all their different policies on things such as environmental, ethical, diversity, equality, inclusion and more. Sustainability on the whole is something I definitely need to learn more about and read more research on, so having these documents on hand is great.
Do you look into how sustainable companies are before buying?
