CBSE Goes Green—Bans Leather Shoes

The environmentalist phenomenon in CBSE has got intense lately with the board advising all its students to do away with the use of leather shoes and other accessories to avoid adverse environmental impact.

The CBSE board is rather suggesting very popular canvas shoes as possible alternative in schools for students.
“There is no dispute that leather comes at a huge environmental and animal welfare cost. The production of leather from animals involves highly toxic chemicals and usage of these can be reduced sizably if leather shoes are not made mandatory in schools,” Rama Sharma, CBSE public relation officer, told TOI.

The letter by CBSE board to schools read:
“Schools should encourage use of “eco-friendly option of canvas shoes, which are more resistant to wear and tear, more comfortable and relatively inexpensive. Canvas shoes are anyway prescribed for sports purposes and can easily be used for everyday wear eliminating the need for multiple pairs. Considering the concern and to reduce environmental impact caused by school uniforms, this may be considered as a tangible step forward.”

This is not first such move in India. Center Point schools in Nagpur had gone green by prohibiting leather shoes in its premises about 4 years ago.

“Earlier we left the option of type of footwear to parents. Our reasoning for banning leather shoes is that the entire process of tanning and making the final product is very harmful to the environment. Now kids wear the black trainers, which is basically half canvas, and that’s the norm for everyone here,” Mukta Chatterjee, Centre Point Group of Schools executive director, said.
Bhavans group is also practicing no-leather shoes policy for the last couple of years.

“I believe that children must wear only those type of footwear in which they will be comfortable with regards to the geographical location and activity. The comfort of kids comes first before any other criterion,” said Akhilesh Chaturvedi, Delhi Public School principal.
This post was published by Rakesh Singh, The product head at askIITians and an IIT- Delhi and IIM-Kozhikode alumni.