I quietly lower my shameful sneakers away from Boucher’s view.
I’d been feeling guilty about throwing my shoes away for a while, but I didn’t seem to have any other options. Throwing them into landfill seems like all I can do. But for the past year, there’s been an alternative. Boucher is the co-founder of Orba, a sustainable shoe company based on the Kāpiti Coast. Orba shoes are plant-based and non-toxic.
They’re made out of natural fibres like flax, rice husk, ramie, kenaf and cotton. At the end of their life cycle, her shoes are designed to break down completely. Everything that makes a pair of Orbas is biodegradable. When Boucher says everything, she means everything.