TORE Totally Recycled Men's Stripe Crew Socks 3pk - Black 7-12

The product features section on this page says these socks are breathable, but that sure doesn't fit my definition of breathable. They're made of nonabsorbent plastic threads from recycled water bottles, so they hold heat very efficiently. They're not for summer wear. They will keep your feet warm in cold weather in spite of being thin. I consider this a great feature because thick socks make it hard for me to put on lace-up shoes and boots. I can't give a full report on durability yet. I've worn them a few times and so far so good. As for the environmental benefits, they're a tiny way to fight back against the plastic waste environmental disaster. And I haven't seen an energy audit, but certainly their carbon footprint is drastically smaller than growing the equivalent amount of cotton or pumping, refining and processing petrochemicals to make synthetic threads. As for value, I'll admit that these socks can't compete with Hanes on price. The manufactuing capacity isn't up to speed to compete on cost, and TORE doesn't have the sales volume to get onto Target's shelves. So these socks are caught in the expensive environmentalist niche market, hoping for a breakthrough to the mass market. Unfortunately most environmentally friendly products go through this cycle of being relatively expensive for a long time. Look at electric cars and solar panels. It took decades for them to compete with the entrenched and fully deployed gas car and petrochemical and industries, which had many decades to build out its infrastructure and maximize economies of scale. Of course if the true costs of the car and petrochemical industries (climate disaster, health problems, massive pollution of air, water, and land, military expenditures to protect the Middle East oil supply, etc., etc.) were passed onto its actual customers instead of the public at large, renewable energy would have been competitive several decades earlier, but I digress. Since this is a way to support a healthier environment without relying on government regulation, I rate it a good value, knowing full well that many people have a different idea of value from mine. Kudos to Target for providing and promoting this alternative product!