Social responsibility
Animal rights are important to us. But they're not everything.
Animal rights are important to us, but they're not the only thing we care about. At ShoesForSociety X avesu, we focus on a holistic approach: We're committed to fair working conditions, environmentally friendly production, and reducing our ecological footprint. We're committed to ensuring that every step of our value chain—from material extraction to shipping—is sustainable and ethically responsible. In doing so, we focus not only on avoiding animal-based materials, but also on promoting social justice and protecting our environment. Our goal is to offer shoes that are not only good for your feet, but also good for the planet.
How can you guarantee fair working conditions?
Fair working conditions are essential to us. We want everyone involved in the manufacturing process to be paid fairly and treated with respect. A large portion of the goods in our range are manufactured within the European Union, where EU directives regarding occupational health and safety and workers' rights apply.
We also attach great importance to adequate working conditions for manufacturers who manufacture outside the EU.
Promises and certificates aren't enough for us. We also get a first-hand look at the situation.
Our employees therefore visit factories – especially those outside the EU – and examine whether the manufacturing conditions meet our and your expectations. We pay particular attention to fair pay, regular working hours and breaks, and clean and safe working environments. If manufacturers categorically refuse such visits, they are not even considered as partners for us.
If any of our manufacturers have any doubts and these are not resolved, we will terminate our collaboration.
What about transporting the shoes?
A large part of the carbon footprint of products consumed worldwide results from their transportation. Therefore, it's important to keep these routes as short as possible and make them as efficient as possible. It's no coincidence, then, that the majority of our product range is manufactured in Europe.
Part of our offering is based on the dropshipping model, which not only offers logistical advantages but also makes ecological sense. With dropshipping, the shoes are shipped directly from the manufacturer or a local distribution center to the customer, rather than first being shipped to us and then transported further. This avoids unnecessary intermediate storage, shortens transport routes, and reduces CO2 emissions. In this way, we contribute to further reducing our environmental impact.
Of course, all of this can only be a beginning. We're always looking for innovative concepts to make ourselves even more sustainable.
What are the working conditions at Shoes For Society X avesu?
Of course, we want to uphold the standards we expect from others ourselves. Those trendy cafes that offer fair trade coffee but have their own employees toil for starvation wages are pretty ironic, aren't they? That's why we pay our employees decently and strive to create an environment where they and their work receive the appreciation they deserve.
It's important to us that we get along well with each other, and that the individual needs of each employee are taken into account. We try to keep working hours flexible, whether someone needs to pick up a child from school, take care of a sick dog, or be on time for band practice.
Hierarchies aren't really our thing either. We prefer to ensure that everyone at avesu communicates directly with one another and has the opportunity to share their own thoughts, wishes, and needs.
As a modern employer with ethical standards, we take it for granted that discrimination of any kind is a no-go. All living beings are important to us – and this naturally also applies to those who work for us.