Sports Shoes Help Sustainable Rubber in Brazil

Sports Shoes Help Sustainable Rubber in Brazil

Veja shoes are sold at famous stores all over the world. The company that makes them is French. But the shoes are made in Brazil.

Over the last 20 years, Veja has sold more than 8 million pairs of shoes.

The company uses rubber from trees that come from Brazil's Amazon rainforest. The shoes are put together by workers in cities who are paid more than most factory workers.

The company needs a lot of rubber. Unlike some businesses that need rubber, Veja pays extra and asks the people to carefully, or sustainably, harvest the rubber.

Collecting the rubber in this way permits the trees to keep growing and producing rubber. The workers who harvest the rubber are known as "tappers."

Rubber was once a product that was important to the Brazilian economy. But over the last 100 years its importance has declined¹ along with the price of rubber.

Some Asian countries planted rubber trees many years ago. About 100 years ago, they started selling rubber into the world market. Rubber prices sank because of the large Asian supply.

During World War II, Japan removed its rubber from the market. That is the last time Brazilian rubber returned high prices.

By the 1970s, some Brazilian landowners started selling the parts of the forest with a lot of rubber trees. Farmers who raise cows are called cattle ranchers. The ranchers wanted to remove the trees and bring in cows.

Over time, the rainforest got smaller and smaller.

Some rubber tappers protested² the change. They said ranchers were illegally cutting down rubber tress. The conflict became violent. The tappers' leader, environmentalist Chico Mendes, was murdered in 1988 for pushing back against the cattle farmers.

After Mendes' death, Brazil's government created areas where rubber trees would be protected. The forest in these areas could not be sold to make way for cattle. This meant rubber tappers were able to continue their work. The Chico Mendes reserve is one of these areas.

Raimundo Mendes is 77 years old. He has worked his whole life as a rubber tapper. His 24-year-old son Rogerio is also a rubber tapper. They both collect rubber that Veja uses for its shoes. In 2022, they were paid over $4 per kilogram for their rubber. That is 10 times more than they earned in the past.

Rogerio said Veja's money is making some young people return to tapping rubber. "They have rekindled⁴ the hope of working with rubber," he said.

Veja also pays extra money to groups of rubber farmers. These groups are known as cooperatives⁵. The workers promise to take care of the trees and the environment. The workers in the cooperatives get paid money and also receive Veja shoes.

Veja's rubber comes from 1,200 families from 22 local cooperatives spread across five Brazilian states within the Amazon. The states are Amazonas, Rondonia, Mato Gross⁶, Pará and Acre – home of the Chico Mendes reserve.

All the rubber goes to a factory, where it is refined⁸ so it can be used in the shoes. Later, it goes to a shoemaking factory where workers build the shoes out of cotton and leather and then add the rubber to the shoe bottoms.

Even with Veja's success, there are still problems with deforestation in the Amazon. Though it is protected by the government, the Chico Mendes reserve is getting smaller. Cattle ranching⁹ is still much more valuable to the economy in Acre state than growing rubber. Cattle makes up 57 percent of Acre's economy, while rubber makes up just 1 percent. That comes from a study by Minas Gerais Federal¹⁰ University.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro supported cattle ranching over sustainable farming. About half the workers in the rural¹¹ part of Acre are involved in cattle ranching.

Veja uses a special satellite system to keep watch of the Chico Mendes reserve. The company looks for illegal land clearing.

Sebastiao Perera works¹² for Veja to look after the rubber supply. He said Veja will see the deforestation on the satellite images and go there to speak with the ranchers. All they can really do is "offer an alternative and raise awareness¹³" about a different kind of work.

He added that the company knows "public authority¹⁴ should be doing the law enforcement¹⁵."

Words in This Story

pair –n. a set of two items

rekindle³ –v. a light a fire, or cause interest where there was none

refine⁷ –v. to process something and take out impurities¹⁶ so it can be used for something else

deforest –v. to cut down trees or clear land for other uses such as farming or ranching

alternative –n. something different

awareness –n. the state of paying attention to something

authority –n. a leadership figure or government

1 declined   

v.辞谢，谢绝（邀请等）( decline的过去式和过去分词 )；（道路、物体等）下倾；（太阳）落下；（在品格、价值上）降低

参考例句：

• We asked her to come to our party, but she declined. 我们请她来参加我们的晚会，但是她谢绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He declined to charge his memory with so many details. 他不愿在脑中记这么多细枝末节。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 protested   

v.声明( protest的过去式和过去分词 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• He protested he was being cheated of his rightful share. 他提出抗议说他被人骗取了他依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Amy protested she was being cheated of her rightful share. 艾米提出抗议，说有人骗取了她依法应得的份额。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 rekindle   

v.使再振作；再点火

参考例句：

• Nothing could rekindle her extinct passion.她激情已逝,无从心回意转。
• Is there anything could rekindle his extinct passion?有什么事情可重燃他逝去的热情呢？

4 rekindled   

v.使再燃( rekindle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• As soon as they met again his dormant love for her was rekindled. 他们一见面，他对她的旧情如乾柴烈火般又重新燃起。 来自辞典例句
• Ive found rekindled my interest in re-reading the books. 我发觉这提起了我再次阅读这些书的兴趣。 来自互联网

5 cooperatives   

合作社，联合体( cooperative的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Above them was a central bureau of cooperatives. 它们的上面则是合作社总局。
• Some individual proprietors join forces with others to form chains of independents or cooperatives. 这些小个体业主互相联合起来，构成独立企业或合作企业的联网。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

6 gross   

adj.全部的，粗俗的，肥胖的；vt.获得...总收入

参考例句：

• The gross weight of the box of chocolates is 500 grams.那盒巧克力的全部重量是500克。
• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。

7 refine   

vt.精炼，精制，提纯；使优美，使完善

参考例句：

• We shall have to refine on our methods of advertising.我们得进一步改进做广告的方法。
• Reading good books helps to refine one's speech.阅读好的书籍有助于一个人的言谈文雅。

8 refined   

adj.精炼的；精制的；经过改良的；举止优雅的v.精炼( refine的过去式和过去分词)；精制；使纯净；使文雅高尚

参考例句：

• Much of the really nutritive material actually was refined out of food. 大部分真正有营养价值的物质实际上已从食物中提炼出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They refined gold out of the ore. 他们从矿石中提炼出黄金。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 ranching   

adj.放牧的

参考例句：

• They cleared large tracts of forest for farming, logging and ranching. 他们清除了大片的森林以经营农耕、采伐与畜牧。
• This is a trade center in a ranching and oil-producing region. 这是一个牧场与产油区的贸易中心。

10 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

11 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

12 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

13 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

14 authority   

n.当局，官方；权力，权威，威信；当权者

参考例句：

• He is recognized internationally as an authority in this field.国际上承认他是这方面的一个权威。
• Professor White is looked upon as an authority on mathematics.怀特教授被看成数学权威。

15 enforcement   

n.实施, 执行

参考例句：

• MPs called for tougher enforcement of the existing laws on drugs. 下院议员呼籲加强现行毒品法律的执行力度。
• The court is ineffective because it lacks the necessary enforcement machinery. 法院效率低是因为缺乏必要的执行机制。

16 impurities   

不纯( impurity的名词复数 )； 不洁； 淫秽； 杂质

参考例句：

• A filter will remove most impurities found in water. 过滤器会滤掉水中的大部分杂质。
• Oil is refined to remove naturally occurring impurities. 油经过提炼去除天然存在的杂质。