Men are from mars and women from Venus. Over the years this phrase has been regurgitated, disproved, overthrown and brought back round again. In the footwear market, we have witnessed everything in the last few years from the arctic monkeys driven rise of the roguish masculine rocker to the phase of metro sexuality... a kind of middle ground that says it is really OK for a man to wear a bit of eyeliner occasionally, to pluck his eyebrows and GHD his hair. One area within the consumer market which has grown at a fast pace in general is the rise of the Eco friendly. With rising sea levels and melting polar ice caps, it is no surprise that Eco and environmentally friendly produce from fair trade to green has taken a hold of the planets population in full. From food to footballs, this has been HUGE, far from the tree hugging following we once new of. But what about the men's footwear market?

1) PATAGONIA

Back as far as 1957 one duo were pioneering for green wear. The brain child of Yvon Chouinard, a young American of a French Canadian family who, after becoming a successful business man creating his own climbing pitons, realised the error of his ways after the hard steel of the pitons damaged the environment. After finding that aluminium was a better "cleaner" way to manufacture these pitons, Chouinard decided to pioneer for a larger protection of the environment and created Patagonia in 1973. The name was chosen because it relates to the beautiful wilderness, glaciers and high peaks of the landscape in the very south of the American continent. Chouinard was convinced that clothing and footwear must be as efficient as climbing equipment: an alpinist on a bivouac needs to stay warm when it is cold and feel comfortable when it is warm. Patagonia clothes and shoes are always designed for both the outdoor enthusiasts who take their sport to the extreme: climbers of the Himalayan peaks, back country skiers to those who appreciate good style and are passionate about the good of the earth.

The brand's mission statement could not be clearer "To build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis." The best effort they can make toward causing no unnecessary harm, in their opinion, is to make the best quality products, ones that are durable, functional, beautiful, and simple.

For Patagonia, a love of wild and beautiful places demands participation in the fight to save them, and to help reverse the steep decline in the overall environmental health of the planet. The brand donate time, services and at least 1% for sales to hundreds of grassroots environmental groups all over the world who work to help reverse the tide.

Patagonia are environmentally sound in everything they do, from printing their catalogue with 40% post-consumer waste paper to using solar power in their factories. Their footwear is made fro materials that range from recycled polyethylene/polyurethane, rubber, foam and leather than meet environmental standards to as far reached options as soles is moulded from a natural latex harvested from the hevea tree, hemp and natural odour treatment solutions.

The number one spot could not go to a greater deserving brand and for the men's market, they are more than a Eco friendly warrior, they are fashionable, cool and carbon friendly. A mix like this really is hard to find and, as they say, the proof is in the pudding, Patagonia's turnover has reached a cool $267 million dollars last year. http://www.patagonia.com/

2) TERRA PLANA'S WORN AGAIN

Since 2003, Terra Plana have been making Eco friendly footwear that men all over the country have been buying and are always looking for pioneering new ways of producing them. Their mission is to make shoes for people who want good-looking feet, without a guilty conscience. They have always looked for new ways of working that could improve labour standards, help deal with climate change and address issues of global trade and sustainability.

With their brand Worn Again, Terra Plana have gone boldly where very few companies have dared to go. To make the ultimate environmentally friendly trainer. From finding the materials, to the treatment of the people who put them together, to transporting the finished product, Terra Plana are aware that making shoes is one of the most resource-intensive, polluting and toxic industries there is. So, making a perfectly ethical trainer isn't easy. The company have produced the Worn Again collection from a range of crazy materials from kept old men's suits, car seats, granddad shirts and prison blankets to coffee bags, fireman's trousers and jeans... all of which, without Terra Plana's help, may well have ended up in landfill.

The company's current mission is to find a better approach to production and transport. About 80% of the world's shoes are made in China, and Worn Again's first collection was put together at the Brilliant Footwear factory in Guangdongy and by working directly with the producers they can confront issues around better working conditions and build better relationships between producers and consumers.

Ultimately, over the next 10 years, the brand aim to establish a range of diverse production models around the world that source materials regionally, reduce emissions, produce in factories with above average working conditions and influence the expansion of Fair Trade and co-operative production. Their efforts may be young, but they are strong and for men, their sharp designs and cool image may see them at the top of the game in years to come. http://www.wornagain.co.uk/

3) THE BEST OF THE REST

Other brands out there are increasingly becoming aware of the need for a push on environmentally friendly products. We love offerings from Levis, in which the infamous heritage brand gives a second life to wornout jeans by turning them into stylish shoes . Re-used jeans have been collected, washed and cut to measure to create a unique and original vulcanized shoe.

We also love the new ideas from cool surfing and snowboarding brand, Ripcurl. To demonstrate their alignment with environmentally friendly policies, Rip Curl have created a project that not only aims to discover new talent, but also to create public awareness by searching for three specific artists to design their products in a way that represents their protection of the environment through their products.

But stocking such brands is one way you can feel ultimately comfortable that, as a retailer, you are being as green as the male market demands you should be. If you stock leather shoes, as Adam Huges from BLC points out there are new ways to track that any brand you should choose to stock, whatever it may be is not being harmful to the environment.

"All Leather manufacturers have the potential to be big polluters if their processes are not managed effectively. Solid and liquid waste can be significant and needs effective treatment. BLC has been working on environmental improvement research for many years. Most recently the formation of the Leather Working Group (LWG) by a number of key brands has created a framework for measurement and sustainable improvement in the area of environment." Says Huges "In the footwear sector the brands and retailers can now select leather supplied by tanners that have been audited and rated using the LWG audit protocol. Or if they want to be pro-active they can get involved with the LWG and encourage their existing suppliers to be audited."

So there is no excuse.. there is a big demand out there for Eco friendly footwear in the male market and a series of brands there to help you do it... what are you waiting for?

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