The Green Traveler’s Dilemma: Gore-Tex, Choosing Convenience over the Earth?
This weekend I stopped by REI to look for some hiking boots or trail running shoes. Ideally, I want a shoe that is durable, supportive, breathable, extremely comfortable, and waterproof. Yes, waterproof. Someday, (and hopefully sooner rather than later) I’ll be taking a round-the-world (RTW) trip, and I have an occasion coming up very quickly where I would use these shoes, then will save them for that RTW vacation.
photo credit: di vivere
In my search for waterproof shoes I discovered that the seemingly only available option is Gore-Tex. I admit that I didn’t know much about Gore-Tex until recently and even what I did know was limited to “it’s bad for the environment.” After doing a little more research I’ve learned that Gore-Tex is essentially the same material as Teflon®, a perfluorochemical, PFC. (If you don’t know much about Teflon you should know this: cooking with Teflon pans can kill birds and it’s chemical compounds have been found even in polar bears in the Arctic.)
If you want to know more about Gore-Tex I’ve listed some additional resources below. But the key thing is this: the chemicals in Gore-Tex are bad for my personal health and they are bad for the environment. But, wouldn’t it be nice to have breathable, waterproof shoes?
So, I’m stuck with this green traveler’s dilemma: Do I buy Gore-Tex hiking boots/shoes that will be convenient and practical for me (short term) or do I find something else that will, in the end, be better for my health and the environment (long term)?
Resources about Gore-Tex:
What is Gore-Tex? Gore-Tex is a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
Environmental Working Group (EWG) on PFCs: Executive Summary
Minnesota Department of Health on PFCs
DuPont’s Attempt to Make Gore-Tex Seem Environmentally Friendly
Comments
Comment from erikka
Time: April 18, 2008, 11:40 am
i feel this could be a situation where you offset the bad environmental stuff with some other good environmental stuff. (to talk slangily) Already you are being such a conscientious shopper and traveler that you’ve probably done the work of 20 people. If it would not sit well with your conscious, then you’ll have to make the healthier decision over the more…comfortable option.
i didn’t read over the links yet, but does research show how much of these harmful chemicals effect the planet via creation, before creation, and after creation of a PFC object? how bad are these goretex boots really for your health? come to think of it, i have gore tex boots I’ve had for about 4 years now.
i’ll go read the links…
Comment from mickey
Time: April 18, 2008, 12:29 pm
I think you should consider how important having waterproof shoes really is to you. I have a pair of gore-tex boots that I have only ever used in snow. Gore-tex may be more breathable than a plastic bag, but it still makes for a sweaty foot if you’re using it as an everyday shoe.
As a backpacker, hiker and climber, I’ve always opted for a shoe with a lot of airy mesh in it that will dry quickly if it gets wet. It’s no big deal if your feet are wet for a day, after all. Plus, a well-ventilated shoe allows sweat to evaporate more easily, leaving you (paradoxically) with a drier foot most of the time than a stuffy gore-tex lining would allow.
Also, even if you do go with gore-tex, what about all the other nasty stuff that goes into producing a shoe. Maybe the gore-tex is just a drop in the bucket.
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Time: May 6, 2008, 7:13 pm
[…] But soaked socks are miserable, so it might be worth it to you to have dry feet. In her post on the Gore-Tex dilemma, Elizabeth hashes this out a bit […]
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Time: April 18, 2008, 7:38 am
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