Source: Reuter

Hemp shoe wins backing from actor Woody Harrelson

By Martin Wolk
SEATTLE (Reuter) It may not become another Air Jordan, but
a small Oregonbased company plans to market a hiking shoe made
of hemp and endorsed by actor and environmental activist Woody
Harrelson.
Deep E Co. said its new Headwaters dayhiker, due to hit
store shelves in October, will feature an allhemp canvas upper
and other materials meant to be environmentally friendly such as
recycled tire rubber and waterbased adhesives.
The shoe would appear to be a perfect match for the
Oscarnominated actor, whose environmental activism landed him
in a Kentucky jail last year when he planted several seeds to
publicize the cause of wouldbe hemp farmers.
The charge against Harrelson star of television's
''Cheers'' and movies including ``Natural Born Killers'' and
''The People Vs. Larry Flynt'' was thrown out after a judge
ruled Kentucky law improperly failed to distinguish between hemp
and its psychoactive cousin marijuana.
Harrelson and other advocates of industrial hemp say the
fastgrowing crop provides an environmentally friendly
alternative to trees as a source for fiber to be used in paper,
fabric and other products.
Hemp cultivation is illegal in the United States, although
it can be imported from countries such as Canada, Australia,
China and Germany where it can be legally grown.
``We're sort of behind the times here in lumping hemp with
other forms of cannabis sativa,'' said Deep E Co. (pronounced
''Deep Eco'') executive vice president Bob Farentinos.
Under Harrelson's firstever endorsement deal, the actor
will receive undisclosed royalties from sales of the $80
Headwaters and other hempbased shoes that are still being
developed. Most of Harrelson's proceeds will be donated to
environmental organizations such as groups seeking to save the
Headwaters oldgrowth forest in northern California, Farentinos
said.

Based just a few miles from Nike Inc., maker of sports
products endorsed by star athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger
Woods, Deep E Co. was founded last year and has five fulltime
employees gearing up for its first major shoe season next
spring.
Harrelson, who owns his own company specializing in
hempbased products, praised Deep E Co. for promising to
manufacture and sell the hemp shoes in ``a socially and
environmentally responsible manner.''
But the actor, who refrains from eating animalbased
products and even wore an Armani hemp tuxedo to this year's
Academy Awards, might not be able to endorse every product made
by Deep E Co.
The company also has developed a leather marketed as Sustana
derived from cattle raised without using pesticides,
antibiotics or artificial hormones, Farentinos said.