CSR
MyFoot® Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
My Foot® also means continuous improvement. We set the bar high, as high as can be, not only when it comes to our products, but also when it comes to social performance, environmental awareness and social responsibility.
We make our shoes exclusively to order. We do not produce more than what is necessary. So no energy is wasted on products that will soon be collecting dust in a dreary warehouse. Every gram of material, the smallest strip of leather that we can still use in our production, means a reduction of unnecessary waste, another step towards the actual optimization of the use of materials and energy. We even source stocks of high-quality remnant leather and unused shoe components from local manufacturers and wholesalers to avoid throwing perfectly usable items away.
In the meantime, our products are shipped all over the world, so good packaging is essential. The use of packaging material is therefore inevitable, but in order to contribute to the preservation of trees and forests for generations to come, we only use tape and cardboard boxes made of recycled paper.
We take the extra steps necessary to become more sustainable, in order to minimize our impact on the environment and climate. This line is continued in our company and our working environment, for example skylights have been installed over the full length of our factory hall, not only because it is more pleasant to work in natural light, but also because in this way we can save on artificial light and therefore use less electricity.
The large roof area of our factory offers opportunities for generating solar energy. That is why we have chosen to install 428 solar panels, with which we generate no less than 49% of our own electricity. This way we also contribute to reducing our CO2 emissions.
For some time now, My Foot® offers the possibility to order Vegan Modular Orthopedic Shoes. By using various high-quality synthetic materials, no animal raw materials have to be used to deliver an equivalent product. This way we hope to eventually be able to offer a fair-trade, animal-friendly alternative to the traditional products in the orthopaedic market, so that customers who agree with that philosophy actually have the option of an honest choice.
By using as much chrome-free leather as possible in our shoes, we are working on a more circular solution for the waste from the meat industry. Leather is made from hides which are a by-product of the meat industry. Proper tanning can make it a circular and biodegradable material. In a traditional tanning process, a trivalent chromium (Cr III) is used. A safe process for us humans, but more harmful to the environment than vegetable/chrome-free tanning. Chrome-free tanning is less polluting because the waste streams from the tanneries are cleaner and the leather has an improved biodegradability.