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The Bee’s Knees

Contributed By: ecofabulous

Since it takes half a barrel of crude oil to produce the rubber in just one tire, and burning used tires can release a host of pollutants into the air like arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead - we’re both thankful for and inspired by what the girls over at Green Bees have done to prevent even a handful of old tires from being tossed into local landfills.

Green Bees creates hand-made vegetable-tanned leather shoes with recycled rubber tire soles. With a selection of boots and sandals, there’s sure to be a style to match your shoe type. We love the Thencha boot for its updated take on the rugged cowboy look ($304) and the Erma boot for a more classic equestrian style ($275).

With almost one billion tires discarded annually, that’s a lot of good lookin’ boots waiting to happen.