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I was delighted to learn about No Sweat, a web storefront that promises union-friendly, sweatshop-free casual apparel. I thought they were courageous to publish their workers’ wages and benefits even if I lacked context for understanding how fair they really were. I also loved the idea of buying shoes that resembled Converse All Stars without supporting Nike. So I did.

But after less than six months, my No Sweat shoes are on their last legs:

Now, I’m probably kinda hard on my shoes. I walk and bike quite a bit, and I have a bad habit of pulling them on without untying them first. But I’ve treated other shoes with equal disrespect, and they’ve usually held up much longer.

I still love the idea of No Sweat. I’m not going to boycott them, although I’m unlikely to buy shoes from them again soon. It’s possible that I just got a bum pair to start with. But this frustrates me because it’s yet another example of how hard it is to fight the consumer powers that be. I need shoes, but it’s not practical for me to make my own shoes, so I have to buy them. And it’s hard to justify spending twice what I would pay at a discount shoe store for a product that lasts less than half as long — especially when I’m not sure whether it’s qualitatively more humane or just incrementally more humane. Where’s the reasonable compromise?

Hrmph. Anyone know a socially responsible cobbler who needs a web site?

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