Veja - sustainable, vegan sneakers

The French sneaker brand Veja was founded in 2005. The name comes from the Portuguese and means "look/see". Veja stands for an ecological and social value chain from the raw materials to the finished sneaker. They place great value on transparency and traceability.

They show exactly where the components of the shoes come from and where they are assembled.

The company only processes sustainable materials, such as organic cotton and recycled materials. The name of the vegan shoes already indicates their composition. For example, the upper material "J-Mesh" consists of jute and recycled cotton. The advantage of the traditional jute material from Brazil is that it has thermoregulating properties and keeps warm when it is cold and cools when it is hot. The "B-Mesh" material, on the other hand, is created from recycled plastic bottles. The fabric is lightweight, water-repellent and breathable. There are about three recycled PET bottles in each model with B-Mesh.

Veja is strongly committed to combating the deforestation of the rainforest in Brazil and participates in the AGRO-ECOLOGIE project, which is about the cyclical cultivation of mixed crops, e.g. cultivated areas with sesame, peanuts, corn or beans. Through Veja's commitment and cooperation with the SERINGUEROS communities, sustainable use of the rainforest is promoted and deforestation is counteracted.

A very impressive quote in this regard comes from Chico Mendes, a rubber tapper, trade unionist and environmentalist: "At the beginning I thought I was fighting for the rubber trees, then I thought I wanted to save the Amazon rainforest. In the meantime, I know that my fight is for the survival of humanity.