SOLE Platinum Sandals Review

This could be an interesting week: the product review train that is Running and Rambling will veer in some unusual directions over the next several days. We'll go from warm-weather footwear (today) to cold-weather necessities (later this week), with one or two random stops along the way (wherever I can fit them in).

The most unusual aspect of today’s post, however, is that I haven’t actually reviewed the product in question. Instead, as often happens when I get myself in a jam, I’m turning to my wife to bail me out.

Actually, the timing was fairly fortuitous; throughout the summer, she had been looking to replace her favorite flip-flop sandals that were discontinued last year. So when SOLE offered to let me test a pair of Platinum Orthopedic Sandals, I pretended that I was really a girl with size 9 feet, and tricked them into sending me a women’s version.

(OK … that’s not really the way it happened; I explained our situation to the company rep, and he was very cool to let me do a writeup based on my wife’s testing and feedback. So with that, we’ll get right to it.)


SOLE (always written in all caps; I have no idea why) is the brainchild of Canadian Mike Baker, the founder and president who first made his mark with do-it-yourself custom insoles, and more recently expanded to the arena of orthopedic sandals.

The orthopedic angle is an important one, as Baker’s product idea was inspired by his own history of injury. SOLE footbeds are designed to create a custom fit for improved comfort, alignment, balance and injury-prevention. The company has sold millions of insoles to NFL and NBA teams, military personnel, and medical professionals. Both the insoles and sandals are approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association.


(However, it will certainly be a point of contention with barefoot practitioners that the company’s website proclaims that without proper cushioning and support, the human foot is inclined to “collapse” and cause pain all the way up the body. Maybe it’s a good thing that my wife was the one doing this review.)

Baker also has a strong social and environmental conscious, supporting several outreach programs promoting youth fitness and targeting the childhood obesity epidemic. SOLE is committed to environmental sustainability, using recycled packaging components, and converting product scraps from its factories into reusable product material. Just this month, they announced a partnership with ReCORK America to produce footwear from recycled wine corks – so next time you drain a bottle, think of it as doing your part to help create a sandal for somebody.

The distinguishing feature of SOLE sandals is how the footbed becomes personalized for each person’s unique foot properties. The wear-moldable footbed conforms to the shape of your foot after repeated uses: the arch height adjusts to your required level, the forefoot takes the shape of the balls of your feet and toes, and the aligning heel cup is contoured to your individual shape. The result is a continuous contact surface across the underside of your feet, leaving no area unsupported. You get the benefit of an orthopedic sandal with the convenience and cool looks of a stylish flip-flop.


At this year's Outdoor Trade Show, SOLE Platinum Sport Flips were awarded the Novel Innovations award for footwear, which recognizes products based on innovative design, ergonomics, environmentally friendly construction, and overall utility value. They have a loyal following among athletes and everyday occupational users, and my wife found them comfortable as well. She also liked their sleek profile in comparison to other brands, and noted a nice selection of colors available from the SOLE webpage.

SOLE Platinum Sport Flips typically retail for $70, with both men's and women’s versions available in several sizes and colors from Endless.com and from the SOLE website. It's a higher price tag than a basic pair of flips, but if you need the orthopedic support to accompany your carefree fashion, these sandals make an attractive option for warm-weather footwear.

See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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Fiesta Cakes

If you should ever wonder why I feel compelled to run as much as I do, allow me to present a little story, along with a few exhibits that my wife threw together over the course of about 48 hours last week:

Exhibit A: a gumball machine cake.

Each fall, our elementary school has a Fall Fiesta fundraiser, and one of the most popular attractions is the Cake Walk, where 15 people go around a circle of numbers in musical-chairs fashion until the music stops. A number is pulled out of the bucket, and the person standing on that number wins a cake. Simple as that.

Yes, the gumballs are real

So each year, my wife comes up with some super creative designs for the cake table. And since she's helped organize the Fiesta in years past, she's aware that some parents are either too busy or too forgetful to bring cakes of their own - so she makes one or two extra on their behalf. That's just her way.

Exhibit B: My 8-year-old's favorite design this year

Each of us in our family knows that these cakes don't only look delightful, but they taste amazingly good - so the kids' primary goal at every Fall Fiesta is to win one of Mom's cakes back.

It's really a bunch of cleverly arranged cupcakes

The trouble is, the cakes are so distinctive that they're always among the first to be picked from the table by early winners of the Cake Walk. This year, our 5-year-old did the family proud by winning a cake within the first half-hour of the carnival.

Exhibit C: A cute carousel

She picked out the carousel cake that she helped decorate, and came home the hero of the day. As for the cake - it lasted less than 24 hours at our house before it vanished.

Complete with real animal cookies

These cakes may seem like extraordinary stuff - but to my wife, they're just another good idea that she was able to pull off without a hitch. I could probably write a similar post like this just about any week you choose, featuring either cookies or brownies or my current favorite at this time of year, pumpkin muffins. They're too much for me to resist, so I compensate by working them off as much as possible afterward.

And I keep exercising on a regular basis in the mornings, because I never know what might be waiting for me each night when I get home.

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Running in Hard Times

I used to think I was something of a trendspotter – but recently, a running-related phenomenon had to be pointed out to me not once, but twice before I finally realized there was something worthy of discussion.

Specifically, the relationship between the national economy and the running community has been the topic of two Wall Street Journal articles since May: one describing how the overall number of runners tends to increase during recessions (see the full article here), and another explaining how downsizing and job layoffs have a secondary consequence of making race fields faster (full article here).

It all makes perfect sense, which is why I feel a bit oblivious for missing it. So while I can’t take credit for digging any of this information up, I tried to consolidate the two stories and add a couple observations of my own for our most recent Monterey Herald article, which follows below.

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Running Life 10/8/09 “Running in Hard Times”

The economy is finally improving! Or maybe it isn’t. It depends on who you talk to, and what indicators you consider. One thing is certain, however: at some point – whether in a few months or a few years – our economy is going to recover, and people will begin to feel a bit more financially secure.

When that time comes, it will be almost universally welcomed – by everyone, that is, except for runners.

There’s a curious running-related corollary to the ebbs and flows of our national economy: namely, hard times tend to produce more and faster runners. It’s a pattern that goes back more than 30 years, to the recession of the mid-1970s – which also happened to see the biggest running boom in modern history. The historical phenomenon is so notable that the Wall Street Journal has dedicated two separate articles this year to the relationship between the economy and the running community.


When disposable income becomes scarce, gym memberships and personal trainers are often the first casualties of personal rebudgeting. By comparison, running looks like a tremendous value: the price of entry is a t-shirt, shorts, and pair of shoes. The club facility is any road, park, or trail you choose. The hours of operation are whatever works with your schedule.

Running is also proven to be a great stress reducer, triggering the release of brain neurotransmitters that make us feel more content. For many people who are struggling financially, running is a great healthy outlet to vent their fears and frustrations - or perhaps just a place to escape them for a little while.

That last point may be especially appealing to people who have been laid off during the current economic meltdown. When full-time workers involuntarily find themselves with nothing but down time, many of them pursue fitness goals that were deferred while climbing the corporate ladder.

Despite their sometimes big-ticket entry fees, nearly every major marathon in America has seen increased numbers of participants in 2009, or filled to capacity in record time. Usually when races grow in size, it’s on the back end of the pack – but over the past year, the quality of the fields has improved significantly as unemployed (or underemployed) runners have more time to spend developing their fitness and speed in preparation for these events.


For example, the gold standard for marathon runners is running a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. In one study cited by the Wall Street Journal, there was an overall 39% increase in Boston qualifying times at races across the country during 2009 compared to 2008.

There’s even a potential “trickle-UP” effect from the increasing ranks of marathoners, making everybody better by consequence. For the amateurs, laid-off marathon runners help to raise the level of competition within age groups. Among elite athletes, Olympic-caliber collegiate runners may be more inclined to pursue their athletic goals instead of hunting for work in a dismal market. So when the economy tanks, it’s potentially great news for the entire community of runners.

Of course, we’d never recommend quitting a job or blowing your retirement savings as a strategy to help you (or us) run faster – but in stormy times, any glimmer of positive reassurance may serve as a temporary port of shelter. When the economy finally recovers, we’ll be as happy as anyone else – but we’ll also be hoping that some of those newfound converts to our sport can figure out a way to stick around and enjoy running’s benefits in good times as well as bad.

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The Barefoot Files: Training Update #5

I’ve passed a tipping point of sorts.

Ten weeks into my barefoot running development, I’m now logging more miles in either 1) bare feet, or 2) minimalist shoes like Vibram FiveFingers or Feelmax Osmas than I am in regular footwear. My biggest challenge right now is making those barefoot runs longer, easier, and (sigh) faster. In that regard, I’m making some gradual progress – as this week’s update will show.

Before we proceed, I’ve made a couple of changes to consolidate these reports. First, I’m no longer reporting mileage done in VFFs or Feelmax shoes with my barefoot updates. I’ve already gone on extensively about both these products; just know that I love both of them, I’m continuing to use them regularly – VFFs on trails, Feelmax on roads - and they’ve rapidly become my preferred style of running footwear.

Still loving the VFFs - and the funky dirt lines ... but they're not barefoot anymore.

Also, instead of linking to past updates, I’ve created a new right-hand sidebar where I’ll store highlights of this barefoot crusade, plus regular training updates. Speaking of which …

Week 10: 4 barefoot runs

* 10 min (after shod run)

* 32 min
* 20 min (after shod run)
* 35 min

Kind of an unremarkable week as far as time and mileage go, but on one early morning during this week, an inevitable consideration became very clear: it’s starting to get cold outside.

I headed out the door into 40-degree weather for one of these runs, and my toes felt pretty frosty the whole way - as if I needed another factor to make barefoot running more challenging than it already is. So I posted a question about low temperatures to the Runner’s World forum, and got a couple of interesting responses …

1) The consensus seems to be that running into the mid-30s is perfectly acceptable as long as it’s not raining or snowing, but that temps in the mid-40s with precipitation are much more difficult to handle. So now I’m going around saying, “Sure, it’s cold … but it’s a dry cold,” like that’s going to convince me to be tougher somehow.

2) The other response of note was someone who posted a link to the website of a barefoot winter runner who developed frostbite in some toes, with some others stripped of their skin down to the bone. Not quite the encouragement I was looking for. (And no, I’m not linking to it … trust me, I’m doing you a favor.)

Regardless, I think I might be able to tough out another degree or two, but I have a feeling I’ll be spending a lot more time in my minimalist shoes, or finding a different time of day to run as the weather turns colder.

After an easy 3-miler in the neighborhood

The 32 and 35 minute runs are also noteworthy in that they were done on a 3-mile loop from my house that takes me through the heart of Carmel Valley Village, a half-mile strip of businesses and pedestrian paths that are the primary gathering places for most locals. In other words, my chances of being spotted by someone I know are pretty high.

More specifically, my wife is starting to field the periodic, incredulous “Did I see your husband running barefoot this morning?” questions while shopping at the grocery store or during pickup time at our elementary school. It’s no understatement to say she’s not exactly wild about this whole little experiment of mine: she worries about me turning into a hippie, she has to wash our bedsheets about three times as often because I’m not reliably attentive to washing my dirty feet at night, and now she regularly has people asking if her spouse is insane. Nowadays, I suspect she probably has to think it over for a second before giving her answer.

Week 11: 4 barefoot runs

* 26 minutes (after shod run)

* 45 minutes
* 60 minutes
* 35 minutes

Staying on the “change of seasons” theme: it’s also starting to get dark outside. As if I needed another factor to make barefoot running more challenging than it already is.

Without being able to see the little rocks and surface irregularities on the road, I felt like Luke Skywalker wearing the lightsaber training helmet for the first time: I knew I had to relax and trust my feelings, but every few seconds I suffered some quick, sharp jab that had me wincing in pain. And just like a young Padawan, I very slowly learned to anticipate difficult spots in the road, and took the occasional stings with minimal lapses of composure. Just call me the Barefoot Jedi.

The only photo I could find was from a toy catalog ... but you get the idea.

The other significant milestone from this week was my first 60-minute, entirely barefoot run. Of course, it’s only a positive milestone in regards to the duration; distance-wise, it was probably less than 5 miles, which isn’t necessarily reason to throw a parade. But I have to say that the more time I spend barefoot, the more time I want to spend barefoot. That’s probably why the one-hour run didn’t leave me tired as much as content and eager to do more.

This isn’t quite a point of no return – as I mentioned several weeks ago, my intention isn’t to become a 100% barefoot runner, but to incorporate it on a regular basis with my regular training – but I think I’m hitting my stride quite nicely when it comes to running barefoot on the streets. The cold might test me, the darkness might challenge me, and my wife might institutionalize me, but for the time being, I feel like I’m right where I want to be.

Cool and content after a barefoot hour

It also raises the question of where the logical end point for this series of updates lies, which I’ll ponder for a while between now and the next one.

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MBT Tembea Shoe Review

MBT bills itself as The Anti-shoe – so I’ll start by telling you everything that their shoes are not.

They’re not traditional – in fact, they’re not like anything else on the market. They’re not sleek or flexible or low profile or lightweight. They’re not intended for athletic activity. They’re not cheap. And they certainly won’t make you feel like you’re barefoot.

That last point seems like a contradiction, given that the company’s initials stand for Masai Barefoot Technology - but MBT takes a different approach towards combining the benefits of barefoot walking with the practicality of everyday footwear. Whereas other companies like Feelmax and Vivo Barefoot strip away as much material as possible between your foot and the ground, MBT replicates the postural alignment and musculoskeletal demands of barefoot walking on an augmented, elevated platform. So if you’re looking to feel pebbles on the ground and cracks in the sidewalk while you’re walking, MBTs definitely are not for you.

From MBT website

MBT shoes are primarily intended as a therapeutic device to alleviate back or leg pain for people who are on their feet all day, and there is a loyal contingent of followers - approximately one million customers in more than 20 countries - who swear by their restorative effects. The company’s origins trace back to the early 1990s, when a group of Swiss researchers began studying the biomechanical and physiological effects of walking barefoot. Their studies of African Masai tribesmen convinced them that walking barefoot over unstable surfaces (a key feature, as I’ll explain in a minute) had tremendous impact on resolving back problems, relieving neck tension, easing joint pain, improving muscle tone, and burning more calories compared to using traditional footwear.

Early prototype from MBT website

Striving to provide those benefits for people in urban settings, the researchers created a prototype shoe model in 1996, and founded a company called Swiss Masai in 1998. The prototype provides great insight into the intended style of walking: elimination of the traditional heel-strike in favor of a downward-angled forefoot landing, just as you do when running barefoot.

Modern MBT shoes backfill the heel area with something called the Masai Sensor (the red thing at right; picture from Amazon.com), an elliptical-shaped structure in the midsole which provides the key component to the biomechanics the company promotes: having an unstable platform regardless of whether you’re walking or standing.

All of MBT’s benefits stem from the idea of natural instability; that the highest degree of postural and musculoskeletal advantages from barefoot walking occur on soft grounds like the East African savannah, or Korean paddy fields, or even just your local beach; all of these surfaces trigger small, intuitive, compensatory movements of the lower extremity muscles. However, if you’re walking on hard surfaces, those benefits are diminished – so being on an unstable platform forces those adjustments to take place in your home or business setting just as they would if you were barefoot in the sand.

The result of all this design innovation is MBT footwear – and for something called the Anti-shoe, there’s an awful lot of shoe to wrestle with here. I was somewhat shocked at the overall weight of the shoe – it’s not specified on the website, but Zappos lists the Tembea model I tried at 23 oz – and how generally large it is in comparison to all the other models I’m reviewing.

The MBT Tembea, in black

After wearing “barefoot shoes” for so long, stepping into the MBTs felt like strapping on a pair of platform boots: my standing height in the Tembeas is more than two full inches higher than my barefoot height. Remember how I mentioned in another review that some of my co-workers had mentioned that I looked shorter lately? When I wear my MBTs, they must suspect that I’m on steroids.

The midsole and outsoles are extremely firm, with almost no forefoot flexibility. A TPU and glass fiber shank runs the length of the midsole to create a rigid support surface that rolls over the Masai Sensor as a single unit. A polyurethane midsole component provides the softness that further contributes to the natural instability concept.

I'm pushing as hard as I can - and no flexibility in the forefoot at all.

The uppers are very comfortable, and probably the most stylish (or “business-looking”) of any of the barefoot shoes I’ve tried. The Tembea has a soft, full-grain leather upper, and an antimicrobial 3D mesh sock liner. They aren’t extremely breathable, however, as my toes got fairly warm if I wore these shoes on a hot day.

Walking around in MBTs is actually kind of fun – the feeling in your legs really does mimic walking on sand, or across a soft gymnastics mat, or some other surface where you have to make constant balance adjustments with each step. The rounded heel forces you to use a midfoot strike pattern and eliminates sending impact forces upward into your knees. After using the shoes for a while, your natural instinct is to walk with a slightly flexed knee pattern, and you can feel your foot roll forward very naturally with each step. They’re also effective at triggering an upright spine and forward weight shift as you would have while walking barefoot.

The collection of styles MBT offers is fairly extensive, with looks ranging from dressy to athletic. It’s worth noting, however, that MBT doesn’t recommend actually using their athletic shoes for any sports; the rep I spoke with said they are recommended only for light jogging or walking, as the unstable platform could potentially lead to injury with high-demand athletic activities. Aside from fashion considerations, the sneaker styles of MBTs appear to have more breathable uppers than the nubuck or leather version, which may be an advantage for some folks.

It’s easy to see how these shoes would benefit people who are on their feet all day, especially in a confined position like a cashier or operating room nurse or assembly line worker that prevents a lot of walking around. MBTs are even being prescribed by health-care providers for people who suffer from back pain while standing for long hours at work. Anecdotally, one of our local shoe stores has a group of nurses who tried MBTs, and have started coming back for more.

That’s no small statement, considering the retail price of these shoes, which is admittedly quite steep – it almost seems as if the medical care aspect of MBTs is being used to justify a very high cost of entry. The Tembea model that I wore sells for $235 at Endless.com. Even the Teva-style sandals that MBT produces sell for $150, which represents the low end of the range. Shoes can also be purchased directly from the MBT website.

I’d love to see a future generation of these shoes that are more lightweight and closer to the ground, possibly preserving some of the ground feel I love about minimal shoes. Until then, the MBT presents an intriguing option for those seeking some barefoot biomechanics in a sturdy, stylish package.


See other product reviews on sidebar at right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at info@runningandrambling.com.

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Bridging the Gap

My original intent for this post was to embed Part 2 of Patagonia’s current Footprint Chronicles series, called What Comes Next?, which speaks primarily to the notion of whether any manufacturer can truly call itself “sustainable”, and briefly discusses what an overwhelmingly consumptive culture we have become all over the world – especially in the United States.

Sadly, the episode isn’t embeddable yet, so I’m going to postpone that particular video until a later day (although you can watch it on the Patagonia site linked above if you really can’t wait). In the meantime, since I’ve propped myself up onto something of a social responsibility soapbox this week, I’m posting a few other videos in a similar vein, which speak to some issues I’ve mentioned before in previous posts. Each one is only a few minutes long, so they shouldn’t take too much time out of your weekend.

The clips all come from Patagonia’s previous Footprint Chronicles offerings, which began in 2007 for the purpose of examining various aspects of responsible manufacturing and consumerism. There are literally dozens of videos to choose from on the website (and on YouTube), and it’s this series more than anything else that gives me a ton of respect and appreciation for the company.

Remember how I said that you can find positive information about a company from its website, but were pretty much out of luck trying to learn about their shortcomings? Patagonia stands out as the exception: they’re not only willing to put themselves under the microscope, but they then take the additional – and unthinkable, to most companies – step of discussing their problems in public, on the Internet, for all the world to see.

This first clip is a perfect example: Patagonia’s Footwear General Manager, Craig Throne, appraises the positives and negatives of the company’s manufacturing process – things they are doing well, as well as things they aim to improve. It was filmed at the beginning of the Footprint Chronicles project, as a sort of “where we are now” in preparation for the revelations that would come in future installments:




The next clip is in response to the question of how a company can utilize Chinese labor forces in a humane and respectful manner. Stella Footwear is a partner company that employs over 50,000 people at its Dongguan City facility to make several brands of shoes, including Patagonia. Business Director Buddy Huang is an American-born Chinese who speaks to the importance the company places on providing a healthy work environment and a middle-class standard of living for all of its workers:




And what if a company claims to take care of its workers, but really doesn’t? That’s where something called social audits come into play. Patagonia’s partner companies are routinely visited and inspected by independent organizations to ensure they are adhering to Patagonia’s standards of conduct. Nicole Bassett, Patagonia's Social Responsibility Manager (how many corporations even have a position like that?), describes the importance of the social audits, and Alex Kaufman from Global Solutions, the third-party auditing group, describes how these audits are conducted in the apparel industry:




These videos certainly aren’t incontrovertible proof that every facet of Patagonia’s manufacturing process is 100% ethically sound, but it certainly shows a willingness to put itself out there for public scrutiny. In light of the difficulties I described yesterday regarding the knowledge gap between corporate business practices and consumer awareness, it’s nice to know that at least one company out there is working to bridge that gap as much as possible.

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Responsible Dysfunction

Admin note: reading over this post afterward, I feel like I somehow channeled my inner Abe Simpson: I don't understand what's going on, I can't figure out this confounded technology, and I just wish someone would sit me down and explain things in a nice, simple manner. I'm not usually prone to ranting, but that's kind of what this post seems like in retrospect: a long, rambling airing of grievances that may serve no purpose other than to demonstrate how mentally discombobulated I can become. When exactly did I become a cantankerous old man?

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One of the saddest paradoxes of socially conscious consumerism is this: more people would probably make thoughtful purchase decisions if it weren’t so darn-near impossible to stay properly informed.

Put another way: if you ever want to fall down an Internet rabbit hole, try Googling something like “socially responsible shoe companies”, or “eco-friendly corporations”, and start clicking your way through the mind-bogglingly vast, infuriatingly disjointed world of corporate watchdog agencies.

When I posted my plea for good sources of information on responsible businesses, I had no idea the quest would get so complex – or that so many promising avenues would lead me to dead ends. This isn’t a knock against everyone who gave me websites; I’m very grateful for all of your assistance. Rather, it’s an indictment of just how confusing and fruitless the queries of a conscientious shopper can become.

It becomes obvious that the term “responsible” is far too broad, requiring an immediate narrowing of your search into very specific categories. Are you interested in which companies treat their workers fairly, or those who prevent animal mistreatment? How about those who contribute to worthy social causes, or who work for change with repressive governments? And what about preserving our natural resources, eliminating toxic by-products, and minimizing our carbon footprint? Every one of these considerations introduces a whole new squadron of players.

From Patagonia website

There are dozens of “corporate accountability” websites, and literally hundreds of “eco-awareness” sites that try to hold companies accountable to certain manufacturing guidelines or business practices. The trouble is that there aren’t any uniform criteria for what qualifies as “responsible” – and nearly all of these agencies seem to be working independently of one another. Even worse is that many of the larger, more recognizable agencies aren’t overly forthcoming with information geared towards the general public.

For example, the Fair Labor Association is one of the major players dedicated to (among other things) eliminating sweat shop practices by major manufacturers. They write annual reports and investigate complaints of substandard workplaces – but I dare you to find out from their website which companies currently do well, and which act poorly. The most recent annual report online is from 2007, and their tracking charts are incomprehensible. Even typing a specific company’s name into the search engine doesn’t pull out any tangible information.

From FLA website

Here’s another: let’s say you wanted to support responsible businesses by investing in stocks or a mutual fund comprised entirely of socially responsible companies. One of the most popular indexes is the Domini 400, created by a New England-based group called KLD. It consists of publicly traded American companies that have met certain standards of social and environmental excellence … so wouldn’t it be great to see which companies are included in the 400?

Well, you can’t – at least, not without ponying up some cash. You have to buy a paid subscription to KLD in order to receive their index lists – and if you just want a simple yes/no about one particular company, you have to e-mail a general “info” mailbox and sit around waiting for a reply. Even if you buy today’s list, you won’t be notified of future additions or removals from the index – for that, you have to pay an additional fee to subscribe to a daily constituents list.

What’s worse is that KLD’s criteria for including companies on the “responsible” list is influenced more by reputation and Internet buzz than by doing actual inspections or any other investigative legwork. Some companies have an enormous target on their backs – like Nike, who has been dismissed from and later reinstated to the index - even as they use the exact same factories and labor force as companies like Timberland, who is widely recognized as one of the most socially conscious companies around. Under these circumstances, a company may benefit more from hiring a sharp PR agency than to whole-heartedly commit to social responsibility.

From Patagonia website

(Tangent #1: I don’t mean to pick on KLD specifically – they’re probably no better or worse than most other agencies. They just happened to be the subject of a very insightful New York Times piece I found, which you can read here for a more detailed account.)

(Tangent #2: The story of Nike’s relationship with social watchdog groups could be a whole series of posts, if not an entire book. They’ve actually made tremendous changes since their much-publicized failings of the mid-1990s, and now they’re often listed among the most eco- and socially-conscious companies in the world by some agencies. Other groups still consider them the corporate devil for various reasons, some of which are probably legitimate. And that’s about as far as I’m going to wade into that particular quagmire.)

I mean … this shouldn’t be so difficult, should it? Let’s say you’re thinking about plunking down $100 for a pair of shoes, and want to know if Company X has a solid sense of corporate responsibility: I’m no closer to having a good resource to give you than I was when I first started digging into this stuff a few weeks ago. All we’re really left with is to Google something like “Company X corporate responsibility”, which 98% of the time will direct you to Company X’s own website.

From Patagonia website

To their credit, most companies do a great job highlighting their commitment to the environment, their charitable giving, and their various global partnerships. What you won’t see, of course, are any complaints or reports of irresponsible business practices leveled against them – so it’s hard not to feel like you’re only getting half of the story.

That’s why it’s especially impressive when a company not only does an honest assessment of itself, but openly discusses its shortcomings and limitations in a particular area. That was also supposed to be the introduction to some new videos from the Patagonia company – who, suffice it to say, are continually impressing me as I learn more about them - but for now, we’ll call this a stopping point and feature The Footprint Chronicles separately. The new segment has enough talking points to be the subject of its own discussion, which is what we’ll do in an upcoming post.

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