Herring Shoes Journal

Recycle Week is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and while we do not recycle shoes in the purest sense, we do sell shoes and boots that can be repaired multiple times and use highly biodegradable leather which minimises their impact versus cheaper styles that end up in landfill and have plastics or synthetic leather components.

As a business, we believe in slow fashion to meet the needs of an increasingly environmentally conscious world that is trying to move away from its throwaway habits. Therefore, having the ability to repair or restore is important.

Rather than buying clothing or footwear at a cheaper price and discarding items when we no longer like them or they have inevitably fallen apart, we advise buying quality goods that can be repaired.

The secret to the long-term life of our shoes and boots is in the Goodyear-welting process. Yes, it adds to the price of the shoes, but you will get your investment back by repairing them rather than buying new, as long as you take care of the uppers.

What makes Goodyear-welted footwear repairable is that your cobbler can cut the old sole off through the welt and then attach a new one. This process can be repeated three or more times giving your feet many years of service while not having to wear in your already perfectly worn in shoes or boots.

We clearly demonstrate which shoes are repairable using our “Sustainable: Designed to be repairable” logo so our customers can understand why the price-tag maybe a little bit more than they first expected.

That said, all the shoes and boots in our bestselling Office Essentials range are Goodyear-welted, are reasonably priced, and we are currently offering a 30%* discount on this collection.

If you want to support Recycle Week or want to make the step towards sustainable living, then a repairable pair of shoes may be a good place to start.

Herring achieved the Carbon Neutral International standard two years ago. We use 100% recycled cardboard for our shipping containers, only use recyclable plastic when necessary, and have PV panels on our warehouse roof to offset electricity usage. All our products are made in factories that use respected European tanneries that are regulated to minimise environmental impact. Shipments have been offset with payments towards green energy initiatives.

*While stocks last