We would rather be specific than say “sustainable” a lot, so here is what is actually true about the footwear we sell.
The shoes are repairable
The single largest environmental cost in footwear is replacement. A stitched-sole boot can be resoled several times; a glued, foam-bottomed shoe cannot, and is landfill after a season or two. Every Samelin boot and most of the OmaKing leather range is built to be taken to a cobbler.
The materials are natural, and named
- Vegetable-tanned full-grain leather — tanned with plant tannins rather than chromium.
- Pressed sheep wool in the felt boots and slippers — no plastic fibre, and it keeps insulating when damp.
- Vibram rubber outsoles where the boot is meant for rough ground.
Made close to where it ships
All three makers manufacture in Northern Europe, and every order leaves from Estonia. Nothing in this shop has crossed an ocean to reach you, and nothing is made under labour or environmental rules weaker than the EU’s.
What we are not claiming
Leather is a by-product of an industry with a real footprint, and shipping a parcel has a cost no matter how short the trip. We are not carbon neutral and we do not buy offsets to say that we are. What we can defend is this: fewer, better-made pairs, repairable, made nearby.