The Caboclo Project's Perfect Sandals are Eco Friendly and Summer-Ready
Caboclo is a beautiful line of Brazilian-made shoes and sandals that are handcrafted from chrome-free tanned leather and naturally dyed. I love that they have soles made from old tires, but you could never tell unless you turned them upside down (or stood on your head) and looked closely.
According to their description page,
Partnering with artisans from Ceara (northeast of Brazil), we discovered that the hand-made manufacturing process was dated from the XVI century. One legacy is the ecological leather treatment, which is still done in the same way, chrome-free. Also, all the pigments and colors used are natural. As part of the environmental approach, instead of traditional rubber-soles, we decided to recycle tires. After some versions and testing finally we found the best technology. Even the tool to craft the tires and segregate the rubber from the steel wires was developed along the process.
They also have a line of accessory bags (above), and as you can see, a double-pocketed waist bags, perfect for travelling.
Starre Vartan
Starre Vartan is founder and editor-in-chief of Eco-Chick.com and the author of the Eco-Chick Guide to Life. She's also a freelance science and environment writer who has published in National Geographic, CNN, Scientific American, Mental Floss, Pacific Standard, the NRDC, and many more. She lives on an island in Puget Sound with her partner and black cat. She was a geologist in her first career, and still picks up rocks wherever she goes.
