New BD Vegan shoes

Edit: Is this different than synthetic? If not, why change the verbiage to eco buzz words?

The glue also plays a part in vegan shoes, so these shoes may have a different glue than their other synthetic shoes.

The term vegan is not only about eco friendliness, and it's not a buzz word to those of us that have been vegan and wanting to see more of this for a long time.

Very cool Black Diamond!

Adam it seems like you don't know what vegan means since you call it an "eco buzz word". Here is one widely accepted definition:

Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.

So while being vegan is the biggest thing an individual can do to help the environment, and environmentalism is a part of veganism since harming the environment harms animals, vegan is much more than an "eco buzz word".

I assume that BD uses the term vegan since vegans are a growing market segment. It is easier to identify vegan products when they are labelled as otherwise one has to research all of the materials the product is made of.

Thanks for letting us know about this.

I can understand wanting to be vegan but I can also understand the feeling that replacing leather with hydrocarbon based plastics isn’t really a win, win.

There are a lot of synthetic shoes out there that aren’t vegan because of the glue. Same way that a lot of wine and beer aren’t vegan.

Animal products are in everything. 

Doug Chism wrote: I can understand wanting to be vegan but I can also understand the feeling that replacing leather with hydrocarbon based plastics isn’t really a win, win.

It makes sense why one would think that but if you look at the data it is a big win.

caughtinside wrote: 
I think it's great consumers can have a vegan option for products that are traditionally leather.  I'd join them but I find all the synthetics just make my feet feel clammier.  

Vegans' feet don't get clammy. Because animal. ;-)

Yes but how do they taste.

Yup.  From what I understand, it takes more oil to make cow leather than synthetic fibers, since it's a more direct process versus all the shipping/fertilizing/electricity/who-knows-what it takes to go from calf to shoe.  The real sustainable thing would be some sort of bio plastic synthetic leather, but I'm not sure that exists yet - for now, this is probably the best you can practically make.

Veganism is a ecobuzz word now?

Last I checked killing less animals and reducing your carbon footprint 30% was an actually step in the right direction. I mean unless taxing people to
Stop climate change is something you believe works.

For people that care about this issue there haven't been many options lately.  5.10 had a vegan shoe that was pretty good a few years ago, but they discontinued it.  If you aren't interested, maybe you aren't the target market for these shoes.  That's OK, no vegan gangs are going to force you to buy these.  I try to reduce my eco "footprint" by resoling shoes, having a few pairs for different purposes, and eventually using them to death.  I'm not vegan, though, just somebody trying to be environmentally conscious.  But I know vegans who would be interested in more shoe options, and I'd consider it if they are good shoes, even though I like leather.  The breathability is nice, but the unpredictable amount of stretch is sometimes an issue.  

BD Vegas shoe would have been rad.... missed opportunity 

Nick Orticelle wrote: The glue also plays a part in vegan shoes, so these shoes may have a different glue than their other synthetic shoes.

The term vegan is not only about eco friendliness, and it's not a buzz word to those of us that have been vegan and wanting to see more of this for a long time.

1. High performance shoes (trail runners, hiking, climbing shoes) are not adhered with animal based adhesives. All the best adhesives do not contain animal products. It's only for non performance or low quality "performance" (think the snow boots you find at a gas station) shoes that you have to worry. 

2. And going to call some bullshit on that vegan = ecofriendly. I work with people who've been in meetings with PETA explaining to them that using synthetic leathers in shoes is actually more ecologically harmful. They didn't care. Also another huge reason you don't see more "vegan" shoes is that import rates for shoes are highly tied to leather content. If PETA and other vegan groups were smart they'd work on changing those duty laws that were set up to protect an industry that is basically long dead in the USA.
2a. OR hell, PETA dump money/ invest into creating a better snythetic leather that matches the performance or near of real leather. Sell it to all us footwear manufactures and use the profits to further the cause.

3. The majority of good leather in the shoe world is a BYPRODUCT of the beef industry. Car interiors and furniture for the most part is a byproduct of the dairy industry (cows in the dairy industry are bigger and older). So eating less meat is a better way to be eco friendly than not buying leather shoes, the cow is already dead.

Forthright wrote:

1. High performance shoes (trail runners, hiking, climbing shoes) are not adhered with animal based adhesives. All the best adhesives do not contain animal products. It's only for non performance or low quality "performance" (think the snow boots you find at a gas station) shoes that you have to worry. 

2. And going to call some bullshit on that vegan = ecofriendly. I work with people who've been in meetings with PETA explaining to them that using synthetic leathers in shoes is actually more ecologically harmful. They didn't care. Also another huge reason you don't see more "vegan" shoes is that import rates for shoes are highly tied to leather content. If PETA and other vegan groups were smart they'd work on changing those duty laws that were set up to protect an industry that is basically long dead in the USA.

3. The majority of good leather in the shoe world is a BYPRODUCT of the beef industry. Car interiors and furniture for the most part is a byproduct of the dairy industry (cows in the dairy industry are bigger and older). So eating less meat is a better way to be eco friendly than not buying leather shoes, the cow is already dead.

1. That is not true, even scarpa admits their synthetic shoes are not vegan due to the adhesive they use. 

2. See the image above in the thread. Leather is not more eco friendly. Changing duty laws is part of what orgs like Mercy for Animals does, but the animal agriculture lobby is insane. Best thing we can do is vote with your wallet as an individual and not buy these products. 

3. Even if it's a byproduct, by purchasing it you are making a morally and ecologically unethical industry profitable. 

Believe what you would like, when you're actually inside the sausage factory and can talk with people who've been gaining knowledge longer than both of us have been alive...

Hobo Greg wrote:

Do you really think that GMO wheat products from a thousand miles away are better for the earth than ethically raised meat from a local farm? You have to include the total cost when you think about these things. Ethical and local meat > than anything at Walmart or most big box grocery stores. 

Do you really think all of the meat eaten in the US is "ethically raised meat"? The US imports over 3 billion pounds of beef a year. 

Ethical and local produce > "ethical" and local meat

Hobo Greg wrote:

Do you really think that GMO wheat products from a thousand miles away are better for the earth than ethically raised meat from a local farm? You have to include the total cost when you think about these things. Ethical and local meat > than anything at Walmart or most big box grocery stores. 

I disagree that there is such a thing as "ethical meat".

In regards to the environment I think that is a strange argument considering that 99% of US farm animals are on factory farms, that more than half the U.S. grain and nearly 40 percent of world grain is being fed to livestock, and that the USA where we live exports rather than imports wheat.

Plant based products are better for the earth especially if you consider the total cost. Livestock production accounts for 70 percent of all agricultural land, 30 percent of the land surface of the planet and over 14% of human caused greenhouse gases. It is the major driver of global deforestation with 91% of the land in the Amazon cleared since 1970 converted to cattle ranching. An amazing 36% of all calories grown in the world are fed to livestock. 

Highly recommend checking out Cowspiracy if you are interested in environmentalism. The 51% figure in it is wrong but the rest is very good.

Matt Hostetler wrote: 
Plant based products are better for the earth especially if you consider the total cost.

Is it now? Well, maybe you'd like to have a gander at this then:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/25/veganism-intensively-farmed-meat-dairy-soya-maize

I agree that we should all consume far less of everything, but veganism is not the answer.

Oh just thinking how much better vegan feet smell than mine... what's next BD now selling cannabinoid foot rub, conditioner for your hemp dialect five finger sticky flip flop climbing thong butt dental floss.

Purely in terms of fit, molding to the shape of the foot, and breathability/smell, nothing beats leather shoes for me and most of the people I climb with. They are regularly the only ones that will actually fit my strangely shaped feet well.

Although I don't care for veganism from an ethical point of view, I think the environmental concern is warranted. However, worrying about leather in shoes is entirely misplaced in a society that uses as much disposable plastics as the US.

Almost every restaurant uses disposable cups, plates and cutlery. In those restaurants where normal cutlery is offered, almost nobody uses them because everybody is a germophobe. There are millions of better ways to make an impact.

Matt Hostetler wrote:

It makes sense why one would think that but if you look at the data it is a big win.

Yeah.. thats about as good propaganda can get. Select carefully the stuff that makes your case better, dismiss all the rest. 

Or does anybody here actually thinks its a good idea to stop using any natural fiber, and go all-in for plastic ?

We have been making plastic for about 100 years. Most of wich is still around. By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish... this is comon knowledge I presume?
(Source? The UN)

We are currently unable to even reduce the acceleration of plastics-production.. think about that for a second.. we cant even reduce the acceleration.