For almost 14 years now, one of the first things that people have said when they find out I’m a vegetarian is, “But you wear leather shoes, don’t you?” Even though it’s an irritating knee-jerk question, I can see why they ask it. Finding comfortable, attractive, durable non-leather shoes can be a lot harder than finding vegetarian food, but I think it’s worthwhile. I tend not to wear hemp or canvas—I think they soak through instantly and look dirty from the moment you put them on—so I look for fake leather. The various kinds of fake leather can have their own issues, but I consider it the lesser of two evils.

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Where to Look

• Mooshoes.com – Truthfully, I do most of my shoe shopping online. It can be tough to track down a wide enough selection in Boston, and Mooshoes has a great interface for browsing (and a generous return policy if they don’t fit).
• Sudo Shoes –  A completely vegan shoe store that recently opened in Porter Square in Cambridge. They carry many of my favorite styles, so walking through is like catching up with old friends. Unfortunately, they have a relatively small collection, and didn’t have the size I wanted in many styles. (This is a problem with vegan shoes in general, since the market for them is so small.) But I’m hoping they’ll grow if we continue to support them.
• Hempest – Carries Earth Vegan shoes. Not a great selection and the cashiers can be, frankly, a little out of it.
• Aldo – A vegan coworker told me she gets a lot of her shoes here (thanks, Bobbi!). Lots of heels. I’m surprised at how many aren’t leather.
• Steve Madden – The Madden Girl collection has some cool vegan shoes, but I had a hard time finding them in the store. (And the salespeople had no idea that they even carried non-leather shoes.)

My Favorite Brands

• Earth Vegan – These have a negative heel, so they’re not for everyone, but I think they’re super comfortable. And they last forever.
• Novacas – Their Alta boots are the best boots I’ve ever owned. I’ve had the zipper replaced twice because I couldn’t bear to part with them.
• Vegetarian Shoes – They have everything, including a great men’s line. Almost all of Jason’s shoes are from here.

Any recommendations? I’m sure I’m missing something, and I get a little obsessive in my search for the perfect pair of shoes.

I don’t get the uproar over the Whole Foods in JP. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to hate something like McDonald’s? Why do liberals turn on each other so much?

• The hypocrisy of the outcry over Whole Foods and Wal-Mart – Boston Globe. I admit to disliking Wal-Mart, but my brother actually loved working there.
• Whole Foods Isn’t as Expensive as People Think It Is – Boston Globe. A comparison of products at local grocery stores shows Whole Foods’ prices are solidly middle of the road.
• Is Whole Foods Really More Expensive? Part 2 – Boston Globe. A second look shows meat more expensive at Whole Foods. (But people eat too much meat, anyway.)
• Comparison Shopping: Organic Staples – Farm Share Stories. A similar comparison of organic food results in the advice to avoid the organic aisle at Shaw’s at all costs.
• Study says keeping planes at gate increases efficiency – Boston Globe. I love efficiency.
• What Products I Use – Retro Housewife Goes Green. I also love peeking in people’s medicine cabinets.
• More Meatless Mondays – Civil Eats. The Meatless Monday meme has really caught on. It’s really nice to see what an effect a single blogger can have.
• Confessions from an Eco-Sinner – Mindful Metropolis. It’s ridiculous the things that weigh on us sometimes. Recently my renewed Starbucks addiction has been making me feel terrible.
• Antibiotics (Misused) – Ecocentric. 80% of all microbial drugs are administered to animals. Because we overcrowd them. It’s ridiculous.
• Our Hero: Matthew Damon of Penobscot Home Performance. I love seeing stuff like this in Maine. And they’re hiring…
• Maine’s Green Future Debated – Boston Globe. On the other hand, I hate seeing jerks like this in Maine. Whatever happened to the state’s independent streak?

That’s it. As always, if you find anything interesting this week, send it along.

I confess to a misspent youth. Until about the age of 13 or so I listened almost exclusively to country music. (Alabama, Laurie Morgan, and Clint Black were actually my first concert—but usually I pass over that and claim Smashing Pumpkins.) So I have a bit of a soft spot for Kathy Mattea. I could still sing “Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses,” and “Where’ve You Been” still brings involuntary tears to my eyes. I’m not a big country music fan anymore, but when Mattea gave a clinic at Berklee this week about her newest CD, Coal, I gained a whole new respect for her.

photo by James Minchen

Mattea’s not quite a coal miner’s daughter, but almost. Both her grandfathers were miners in West Virginia, where she grew up. Now she’s a dedicated environmentalist who uses her celebrity to bring attention to the effects of coal—on both the people who mine it and the rest of the world.

Check out the story over at Berklee.edu.

If you’d asked me about enzyme drain cleaners last week, I probably would have wondered 1) if they were really less toxic and 2) if they really worked. I know, I know, pick a side: either it’s too strong or too weak, it can’t be both.

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While the sodium hydroxide (lye) in most drain cleaners isn’t that bad for the environment (it breaks down into its component parts easily), it is very toxic straight out of the bottle. It can cause burns on contact, and ingesting it necessitates a trip to the emergency room. Biokleen Bac-Out Drain Care’s only warnings, on the other hand, are to drink water if it’s swallowed. And it says very prominently on the bottle that it’s not tested on animals. Score one for Biokleen.

Even my trusty Consumer Reports called enzyme cleaners “too wimpy.” But I’m pleased to report that the Biokleen did work. Possibly even better than Drano, for a slow drain. Instead of Drano’s 16 ounces, Bio-Kleen only called for 8 ounces. I left it in overnight, and the next morning my tub was working fine. I guess Biokleen wins.

Probably the least toxic option would be baking soda and vinegar, chased with a kettle of boiling water. But I’ve tried it before, and although it was fun (it felt a little like a middle school science project) it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. Maybe it would make sense as a maintenance task, to keep the drains clear, so I never have to use the Biokleen again. On the other hand, I do still have 3/4 of a bottle left…

The LEED question is especially interesting to me because Berklee’s debating this for their new building. I’m still not sure what they’ve decided.

• To LEED or Not to LEED – Today’s Campus. The conclusion seems to be that LEED certifiable isn’t good enough, because without third-party verification it’s not as rigorous.
• What Makes Housing Really Green? Location, Location, Location… – Sustainablog. Living “within a quarter to a half a mile of a transit stop … produces the greatest energy savings for a home.”
• Eastern Cougar Is Declared Extinct, With an Asterisk – New York Times. My mom will be very disappointed by this. She’s convinced she’s seen like a thousand mountain lions in her life.
• Don’t End Agricultural Subsidies, Fix Them – New York Times. Bittman says what everyone’s thinking. How is this not happening already?
• Should I buy milk in glass, plastic, or cardboard containers? – Slate. “Refillable glass was found to use about half as much energy during its life cycle than either plastic or gable-top cartons.”
• In Praise of Processed Food – Words to Eat by. Yes! I’m not about to become a housewife so we can make all our food from scratch.
• 15 Time-Saving Food Prep Tips – Cheap Healthy Good. I have to keep posting stuff like this as a daily affirmation.
• Once a Villain, Coconut Oil Charms the Health Food World – New York Times. (Thanks, Sophie!) Apparently coconut oil can stand in really well for butter in vegan recipes.
• Regulation Lax as Gas Wells’ Tainted Water Hits Rivers – New York Times. Hydrofracking sounds like something from Battlestar Galatica.

As always, send along any interesting green news that you see this week.