Intentional Shopping: TOMS Shoes
Writing about Intentional Shopping, Martha Anderson highlights the inspiring work of Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS shoes.
Seeing the overwhelming poverty, and bare feet, of children while on a trip to Argentina prompted Blake to start a shoe company based on the principle of conscious, or intentional, consumerism -- the concept of thinking through the implications of what you buy. TOMS motto is: buy a pair -- give a pair. For every pair of shoes purchased, the company gives a pair of shoes to a child in need. The shoes, made in Argentina (fair trade!) are comfortable, stylish, affordable, and -- for people like me who suffer greatly from the “ism” of consumer-ism -- a great way to help a child in need and get a cute pair of shoes in return! [L]ast year Blake and TOMS distributed 10,000 pair of shoes to children in Argentina. This year's goal? Fifty thousand pair to children in Africa.
Through implementation of this simple idea – buy a pair, give a pair – Mycoskie is raising the moral awareness, and enlisting the charitable assistance of, wealthy Americans; providing fair-trade employment to Argentinean workers; and badly needed footwear to poor children in Argentina and Africa. Amazing.