Teva's Waterway Conservation Campaign

Carmel Bay by Kip Evans, courtesy of Ocean Conservancy.

And sealions, because we like them. Victor Maldonado, Ocean Alliance.

Fittingly, Teva, the outdoor footwear brand that started off specialising in rafting sandals, has announced a 'Pair For A Foot', a new initiative that will help to protect one linear foot of global waterways for every pair of Teva shoes and sandals sold in 2011.

The brand will be making donations to clean-water, non-profit organisations including the Ocean Conservancy and Teva's long-standing partner, Waterkeeper Alliance. All told, the company estimates that the initiative should help preserve an amazing 4.3 million feet of waterway over the course of the year.

“The Teva brand was born on the water and we feel a strong obligation to help protect our most precious natural resource,” says Joel Heath, Teva Global Marketing Director. “We’re proud to support organizations that do vital work to protect water for the environment.”

It's not a one-off either, last year Teva donated $100,000 to the Waterkeeper Alliance's 'Save Our Gulf' initiative, a project to cushion Gulf Coast communities from the impact of the BP oil disaster by helping to conserve marine life, beaches and waterways in the region.

Good to see a major outdoors brand rolling up its socks and doing its bit for conservation. You can find full details at www.teva.com/cleanwater where there's an online indicator showing how many feet of coast have been protected as a result of a Pair For A Foot plus links to both the Waterkeeper Alliance and Ocean Conservancy.