WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?

Sustainability is a widely used term today.

But what is actually the literal sense of the word as defined in Duden?

1. (forestry) Silvicultural principle according to which a forest is carefully managed so that, as trees are felled, they are replaced with seedlings that eventually grow into mature trees.

2. (ecology) Principle according to which no more should be consumed than can be regrown, regenerated or made available again in future.

This word was already included in the Duden German Dictionary in 1915 – clear proof that ideas surrounding this theme are not new and have been important to people in Germany for a considerable time. Today, the term is emotionally charged and has become a slogan, as is often the case when a term becomes fashionable. Some regard the term sustainability as a formula to save the world, others use it only as a label to increase their sales.

At Sioux we don’t do things by halves, and we are convinced that you have to start small and close to home to make a difference. A mosaic is made up of small stones – the end result depends on all the small parts coming together. Within our team, we held a long discussion about whether we should publish this blog entry at all, since we don’t believe in blowing our own trumpet.

Why does sustainability come naturally to us?

For a start, we want to point out that here at Sioux we don’t take credit where it isn’t due. Sustainability comes more naturally to us than to other clothing and fashion brands. Sioux does not manufacture “fast fashion”. Our shoes are traditionally designed to be of quality, high durability and wear. We do not produce any use-and-throw articles – our shoes are premium fashion items that accompany the wearer often for many seasons, or even years. Every so often we receive messages from loyal Sioux customers who have been wearing our shoes for decades. Of course the shoes are not new anymore and show signs of wear, but we can see that they have been well cared for and resoled several times. Our basic structure makes it easier for us to work sustainably.

Is it possible to reconcile leather processing with sustainability?

From time to time we are asked this question. Here we point out that all the leathers and hides we use are agricultural by-products (cow, calf, kid, sheep, lamb, deer, elk and buffalo) and the animals were primarily bred, hunted or slaughtered for food production. Not a single animal dies for leather production. We use and process only by-products. From an ethical and ecological point of view, this is an important point. When it comes to processing leather (tanning), we pay enormous attention to the origin and source of the merchandise. We primarily process European rawhides. It is only in case of geographical particularities (deer and elk skin for example originate in North America) that we deviate from our sourcing principles. As a quality manufacturer with relatively high sales prices compared to suppliers with cheap products, we are in the privileged position to be able to diligently select the source and origin of the hides and leathers, and to use only premium leather in our production.

Sustainability in general (as a foundation for our business)

Sustainability begins with the way in which a business leader, or indeed a company, sees itself. Is it about a quick win or a longer term operation? For us as a medium-sized company with a proud history and sites in Germany. working sustainability lies at our heart, as it does for many other German medium-sized companies. Working sustainably remains a challenge, as the shoe industry and the shoe trade have undergone fundamental changes in the last 62 years. Sioux has been operating successfully at its site in Walheim am Neckar since 1954. To maintain a company for such a long time clearly demonstrates a general approach that is based on sustainability. Some people might wonder why start-up companies producing attractive, sustainable fashion drop off the face of the earth after only a couple of seasons. Often it’s because, for example, they spent too much on advertising, which hardly represents a good example of sustainable business. We at Sioux may not be so hip and trendy, but this makes us more sustainable.

Here at Sioux, some of our employees have worked with us for more than 40 years. Last year we even celebrated a 50-year work anniversary. Some families even have two generations working at Sioux – father and son, mother and daughter earn their living with us. This makes us very proud. Sustainability is first and foremost our guiding principle. We want to work in a way that means we can entrust our company to future generations, and from this guiding principle, many things follow on naturally.

Sustainability in the small things (as a guiding principle for individual decisions) Compliance with environmental, working and social standards

Of course, we also procure materials and components outside Europe. Our non-European suppliers are required in writing to adhere to the strict rules laid out in the comprehensive catalogue of our environmental, working and social standards. This is standard across the whole shoe industry and does not make us special. However, we employ our own technicians in each factory abroad, who supervise their working conditions and quality as well as compliance with all the regulations. More importantly though, we have cooperated closely and in partnership with all of our foreign supplying factories for several decades. Our two key suppliers (out of only four suppliers of finished shoes in total) began working with us under the fathers of the present management, and in both cases, the companies are now managed by the sons. We have known our partners personally for many, many years, which creates an additional bond of trust.

By sea rather than by air

Our merchandise from non-European locations is transported to Germany by sea only. This is a big advantage over the so called “fast fashion” formats, who launch 6-12 collections per year to the market and have to rely on air transport, most of which is not carried along on existing passenger journeys but by dedicated cargo planes. However, we do not completely rely on transport by sea. As an exception, we also have to fly in merchandise if, for example, we have to meet a specific delivery date. We only do this, however, on very rare occasions.

Halving our energy consumption

At our company locations, we pay close attention to energy consumption (for electricity, heating and cooling) and have significantly reduced this over the past 3 years by modernising burner technology, insulation measures and behavioural changes. We have reduced our electricity consumption from 223,581 kWh (2012) by -55 % to around 101,131 kWh (2018). In 2018, we converted our former oil-fired heating system to modern gas condensing boiler technology. We reduced our energy consumption (heating and hot water) even more significantly by approx. -66 % from 508,060 kWh in 2012 to 172,584 kWh in 2018. As a result, we saved a total of 457,926 kWh in 2018 compared with 2012, which corresponds to an annual, sustainable CO2 saving of over 150 tonnes.  In Walheim, by the way, we already switched off and dismantled our previously electrically operated air conditioning system in 2015 for environmental reasons. We have found that if we ventilate at the right time and intelligently use the windows to shade, the heat is bearable even in summer. In 2019, new windows and insulation will further enhance the energy efficiency of our building, so we expect primary energy consumption at the site to continue to fall significantly in the future.  

We could continue this list with many examples of ways in which we have made small changes to pay more attention to how we use and preserve our natural resources – you can only create a mosaic by starting with the small stones.