Make Good Derby: Western suburbs teenagers ditch the leather shoes in favour of the eco-friendly option
Leather shoes are still required by most private schools, but some teenagers in the western suburbs are breaking with tradition and opting for greener choices for the new school year.
Iona Presentation College student Milla Hague entered grade 11 wearing shoes made of cork, without falling foul of the school’s strict uniform policy.
Podiatrist and Cottesloe local Paul Griffin told Western Suburbs Weekly that Scotch College in Swanbourne and John XXIII College in Mount Claremont have also embraced trialling more planet-friendly kicks.
Griffin, founder of Perth start-up Make Good, is tackling a product category he describes as “quietly fueling global waste”.
He said leather shoes are the fashion norm because they are durable and long-lasting, but they have hidden costs.
Living in Europe before the pandemic, he was shocked to discover they carried such a significant carbon footprint.
Research shows that 23 billion pairs of shoes are produced worldwide every year, and more than 90% of them end up in landfills.
They are responsible for microplastics, which are difficult to remove from the environment and can be inhaled and swallowed, as well as polyfluoroalkyl substances (Pfas), or ‘forever chemicals’.
“Leather shoes in general are extremely toxic to the environment,” Griffin explained.
“Footwear accounts for around 1.4 percent of global annual emissions, yet remains one of the least-studied corners of the fashion industry,” he added.
Concerned about the environmental impact of leather shoes, Griffin took a leap of faith and launched a lower-impact alternative called the Derby, created by respected Antwerp product designer Aisha Kuijk.
He designed the shoe to look classic, feel comfortable, and be lighter on the world.
“If the people purchasing these shoes work in retail or hospitality, they’re definitely a good-looking shoe and comfortable too,” Griffin said, explaining that they’re made with a certified, biodegradable plant-based upper made from mycelium fibers, cellulose, natural latex and organic cotton.
He added that the materials used for the shoes do not contain petrochemicals because the shoes are designed with end-of-life in mind.
“The only part of our shoe that is not certified biodegradable is the outsole,” Griffin said.
“51 percent of it is natural rubber, which is biodegradable, but 49 percent is not because we need durability.
“There are around 40 components in a pair of shoes, so it’s hard to get to that point and ultimately we’ll be working towards full biodegradability within a few years, but to get there we just need science and technology to accelerate that process.
“But what we have already created is pretty much a world first.”
He hopes to have other schools knocking on his doorstep next year who might be willing to change direction and offer more sustainable alternatives to the usual brands.
“Sustainability and climate change are important for young people,” he added.
“I have children and they value this more than most things, they even dropped out of school a few years ago to protest climate change.
“So we created a unisex shoe and the brand is really strong in terms of fashion, so the focus for us is on older school kids, young people who are starting to think that their values and career choices make sense.
“My son wears Make Good shoes to Scotch College and plays a little basketball in them because they are shaped like running shoes and my daughters ride around in them at PLC.”
He said that it is not possible to ignore the fact that leather brings an environmental cost and that he believes that we can do better by increasing awareness on this issue.
“I think more people are starting to realize that we need bio-based materials to replace plastic,” he said.
“Plastics are great, aren’t they, and it’s hard because it’s cheap?
“Products made from them look great and last forever, but we can’t continue to use them because of their impact on the environment.”
- heal The Derby costs $299. Learn more @wearmakegood
