Why Our Consumption Habits Matter
Vegan Style stand for slow fashion and reducing fashion waste.
From the food we eat to the shoes we wear, our everyday choices have a massive impact on the environment. Often, we don’t see the full picture — the water used, the land cleared, the animals harmed, or the waste left behind. But understanding the scale of human impact on the planet is essential if we’re going to change course.
What's a vegan footwear brand doing talking about this?
Because we’re part of the system. Every business that manufactures or sells consumer goods plays a role in shaping the environmental outcomes of our planet. And every brand — including ours — has a responsibility to do better.
At Vegan Style, we don’t just sell vegan footwear — we actively create it with purpose. Our brands, Zette and Vegan Style School Shoes, are designed in Melbourne and handmade in Brazil by Ahimsa, a pioneering manufacturer operating 100% vegan factories. While most of our shoes are produced at Ahimsa, we also partner with other carefully selected brands that share our uncompromising standards for animal-free, sustainable, and ethical production.
What We’re Doing at Vegan Style (with Ahimsa and Other Ethical Brands)
At Vegan Style, we believe brands should be accountable for the full life cycle of their products. That’s why, through our work with Ahimsa, and our selection of trusted brand partners, we ensure every shoe we offer is 100% vegan and aligned with our ethical standards.
But our commitment goes beyond just choosing the right materials. It’s about challenging the status quo. It’s about lowering our collective environmental footprint and proving that fashion can be part of the solution, not the problem. We demand better — not just from ourselves, but from the entire industry. We’re here to offer consumers choices that truly align with their values and have a tangible, positive impact on the world.
Our commitment to sustainability goes beyond materials. It’s about lowering our collective environmental footprint, demanding better from the fashion industry, and offering consumers products that reflect their values.
The Impact of Footwear — and How Ahimsa Helps Reduce It
Ahimsa’s operations are rooted in the principle of doing no harm — to animals, to people, or to the planet. Their commitment goes far beyond avoiding leather.
Here are some of the huge environmental issues Ahimsa highlights on their website:
- Water: It takes an average of 17,100 litres of water to produce one pair of leather shoes — the equivalent of 285 showers (an average shower uses 60 litres). In contrast, vegan shoes made from synthetic materials use around 14 times less water.
- Cattle & Deforestation: Approximately 10 pairs of shoes can be made from one cow. In 2018 alone, deforestation to create cattle pasture wiped out 1.1 million hectares in the Amazon and Cerrado (Brazilian savanna). Based on Brazilian agricultural data, one hectare supports 2.5 animals, and a single 400kg cow consumes 5.8 tonnes of feedstock per year — all demanding immense land and resources.
- Waste: Brazil is the 4th largest waste producer globally, generating around 79 million tonnes annually, with 40% improperly discarded. From the industrial sector alone, about 183,000 tonnes of waste are dumped daily — roughly the weight of 45,000 elephants.
Water |
Cattle |
Waste |
|
1 pair of leather shoes takes 17.100L of water
Vegan Footwear consume around 14 times less water than leather shoes. |
10 pairs of shoes can be made from 1 cow deforestation wiped out 1.1 million hectares 1 hectare = 2.5 animals consuming 5.8 tonnes of feedstock Demands immense land and resources |
40% of waste in Brazil is incorrectly discarded 183 thousand tons of residues discarded daily = 45,000 Elephants |
The Impact Ahimsa Has Made — And Why It Matters
Through Ahimsa’s ethical production practices:
- They’ve helped make it unnecessary to kill nearly 2,000 animals annually.
- In 2024, when they celebrated their 11th anniversary, the number of animals possibly spared reached nearly 22,000.
Based on those numbers, Ahimsa’s efforts have potentially prevented the devastation of around 4,400 hectares of land that would otherwise have been cleared to grow feed for livestock.
That’s the equivalent of about 4,000 football fields of natural land preserved.
To help combat these challenges, Ahimsa works with a specialised waste management company to ensure that all production waste — whether solid, liquid, contaminant or non-contaminant — is properly and responsibly disposed of.
They also align with Brazil’s National Solid Waste Policy (Law 12.305/2010), which outlines shared responsibility throughout the product life cycle — a standard Ahimsa voluntarily upholds, even where it's not yet mandatory.
How It Makes Us Feel
Knowing that Ahimsa has achieved this as one of our trusted partners fills us with gratitude and inspiration. And while these numbers reflect only Ahimsa’s work, at Vegan Style we also proudly partner with other ethical brands — which means the true impact of our collective efforts is likely even greater.
Being part of this journey — with Ahimsa, our other partner brands, and conscious customers like you — reaffirms our belief that fashion can be a force for good.
💚
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