I recently bought a pair of Timberland® Earthkeeper® Shoes from Amazon.com using a gift certificate I'd received for Christmas. I chose the free shipping option and watched daily—appalled—as the shoes made their way across the world, traveling a total of about 8,000 miles (12,875 km) from a factory in China to the Port of Long Beach, California then to Florida by land.
I liked the look of the faux oxfords and the idea that they were from New England and made with recycled, organic and/or renewable materials. I had no idea that they were actually coming from China and would travel such a circuitous route and distance. I also had no idea that there is no way to know what they're made of, and that the Timberland® Brand is owned by a massive (revenue $11 billion) multi-national corporation called the VF Corporation traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the heading VFC. VF Corporation also owns other well-known American brands like Lee®, Vans®, Wrangler® and The North Face®. See all the brands listed on their website below.
I've been listening to way too much classic rock on Sirius XM® satellite radio, and I started searching for tunes that matched the latest destination of my shoes as they slowly traveled around half the Earth.
Below: Part of the tracking history after the shoes arrived on land in the USA.
All sorts of lyrics started to fit the story of THE TRAVELING SHOES. . .like the lyrics from SOUTHERN CROSS. . . and from SAILING ROUND THE ROOM. . . and. . . HIGHWAY 49. . .and. . .JACKSON. . .and BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX. . .and JACKSONVILLE. . .
you know. . .
"Think about how many times I have fallen
Spirits are using me, larger voices callin'
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten
I have been around the world
Looking for that woman girl
Who knows love can endure.
And you know it will. And you know it will."
only it would be. . .
"I have been around the world
Looking for those shoes girl
Who knows what a package can endure. . .
but you know it will. . . and you know it will."
Sailing the high seas from China . . . like
Emmylou Harris sang in SAILING ROUND THE ROOM. . .
"One last gaze upon the sun
Bid farewell to everyone
Kick that bucket out the door
Where I'm going I won't need it anymore
Gonna lay my burden down
Take a bird's eye look around
From the tall pines of Carolina
All the way to the wall of China
So I'll go sailing round the room
Through my window across the silver moon
No flesh and bone to hold me
I'll finally set my soul free
When I go sailing round the room
THEN. . .on to Phoenix. . .and Glen Campbell's version of Jimmy Webb's BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX. . .
By the time I get to Phoenix
She'll be rising
She'll find the note I left hanging on her door
She'll laugh, when she reads the part that says I'm leaving
Cause I've left that girl, so many times before
By the time I make Albuquerque
She'll be working
She'll probably stop at lunch,
And give me a call
But she'll just hear that phone keep on ringing
Off the wall, that's all
By the time I make Oklahoma
She'll be sleeping
She'll turn softly and call my name out low
And she'll cry, just to think, I'd really leave her
Though time and time I've tried to tell her so
She just didn't know,
I would really go
THEN. . . Texas. . .where to start? How about Bruce Springsteen with Emmylou Harris' DRY LIGHTNING. . .from THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD. . . which also made me think about THE GRAPES OF WRATH and STEINBECK and where did shoes come from in the 1930s?
I chased the heat of her blood
Like it was the holy grail
Descend beautiful spirit
Into the evening pale
Her appaloosa's kickin'
Kickin' in the corral smelling rain
There's a low thunder rolling
'Cross the mesquite plain
Then on to HIGHWAY 49 by George Thorogood and the Destroyers. . .
Don't tell me that
I'm gonna get up in the mornin',
Gonna hit that Highway 49
I'm gonna get up in the mornin',
Gonna hit that Highway 49
I'm gonna dust my blues, peoples,
Leave this raggedy-ass town behind
Or JACKSON by Johnny Cash. . .
When I breeze into that city, people gonna stoop and bow. (Hah!)
All them women gonna make me, teach 'em what they don't know how,
I'm goin' to Jackson, you turn-a loose-a my coat.
'Cos I'm goin' to Jackson.
"Goodbye," that's all she wrote.
THEN. . .to JACKSONVILLE by Josh Turner. . .
Didn't plan on hangin' out in Florida
Never was to good at standin still
Suddenly it's lookin' like I'm gonna
Kill a few more days in Jacksonville
OK. . .I digress far from my point. . . I don't see how these shoes could be "green" or "earth friendly" when they traveled half way around the world burning petro-chemicals all the way. So I decided to investigate a bit further to see what Timberland's® "Green Index®" system was all about.
Climate Impact (kg CO2e for shoe)/10, score=10=10
Chemicals (0 uses = 0, 1=2.5, 2=5, 3=7.5, 4=10)
Resources (wt of non-recycled, organic or renewable material/weight of shoe)
Huh?
I'd like to know where the shoe was made and what was used to make it. The shoes did not come from New England. That much is evident. Explain the graphic and text below? "the authentic New England brand. . ." really?
We've Read:
For domestic airlines, open skies have limits.
Push-ups, and some Zen, at the baggage carousel.
We need a secure border—but not at the expense of our wildlife.
Now that a judge says we cannot get married, we're getting in line.
The wolf nicknamed "Echo," first to see the Grand Canyon in 70 years was killed by an ignorant hunter.
This graphic made me look further into VF CORPORATION's Vision and Values statement. . .they "grow by building leading lifestyle brands that excite consumers around the world." Wow. What's more interesting in the statement is ". . .the industry's most efficient and complex supply chain, which spans multiple geographies. . ." Had I known that, I most likely would have chosen a different shoe. . . made a little closer to home.
As for the shoes, I slipped and fell in them one of the first times I wore them, while working on a koi pond. . .costing myself a $32,000 trip to the hospital. . .the shoes have no grip. . .the sole is plastic and slick. . . Earthkeepers®? Made of plastic? C'mon. . .
So the shoes have been put back in the box and stuck in the back of a closet. . . I thought about sharing this story with VF Corporation's CEO Eric Wiseman, but I figured he'd heard it all before. . .and as he made a big donation to Romney for President we probably wouldn't agree on global strategies anyway.
