Trixie Garcia Teams Up with Keen to Honor Late Father Jerry Garcia’s Commitment to Sustainability with New Shoe Collection

Trixie Garcia is putting her late father’s best foot forward…

The 46-year-old part-Spanish American entrepreneur and the daughter of late Grateful Dead singer Jerry Garcia has teamed up with shoe company Keen, honoring the late legend’s commitment to sustainability with a follow-up collection to the Keen x Garcia product line.

Trixie Garcia

The three styles in the new collection include the Yogui slip-on, the Elsa Lite sneaker and the limited edition Newport sandal, which features Garcia’s “Junglescape” artwork.

1% of proceeds will benefit the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the Earth’s largest temperate rainforest. Additionally, Keen has opened an auction of the #420 individually numbered collector’s limited-edition Newport Junglescape Sandal via Bidding For Good, with 100% of the proceeds going toward The Wilderness Society’s Protect the Tongass campaign.

“The Tongass is our last largest and mostly in tact rainforest in our country,” Trixie tells Billboard. “The Trump administration had relaxed the laws about building roads there. Roads lead to resources, and there are all these people hungry to mine.”

Keen x Garcia

“Keeping it intact is actually a greater benefit to us collectively in the long term,” she continues. “It’s a huge carbon capture, it’s home to many varieties of salmon, bears, glaciers, everything. As stewards of this planet and with all that we know now, it’s just unconscionable that we allow that to be pillaged the way we have the rest of the planet.”

Jerry Garcia, the legendary songwriter and lead guitarist for the Grateful Dead, was passionate about rainforests. In September 1988, the band organized the Rainforest Benefit Concert at Madison Square Garden with the hope that they would motivate their audience and the world to help one of the Earth’s greatest ecosystems.

“Keen is one of those ethically-minded companies that is really making an effort to give back and reduce their footprint and make the world a better place,” Trixie says of continuing her father’s fight. “When we’re finding partners for Jerry Garcia, there’s no reason to do it unless there’s bigger picture involved. We love to have some charitable components, so Keen is an amazing company.”

Her favorite shoe in the collection is the white Newport sandal with the Banyan tree design. “I’m wearing them now,” she says with a laugh. “They’re super cute and super comfortable and I have a breeze coming through the shoes touching my toes. I’m super proud. I love the quality of work on these shoes. They’re beautiful and stylish. I love to be outside and these are great exploring shoes.”

As for her tips for living a more sustainable lifestyle, Trixie says it’s all about mindfulness. “Be active politically, go vote for the right people that are lobbying for positive change and be mindful of what you’re consuming on a daily basis,” she explains. “Be mindful of the plastic that you’re buying, be mindful of how much water you’re using and where your food is coming from. All of these things help make it cool to be a tree hugger, like we were trying to do so long ago.”

“I’m stoked to see someone like Greta Thunberg out there, inspiring the masses like wildfire,” she adds. “I think we’re going to have a whole new generation of people involved in politics and dedicating their lives to fighting for something that’s more meaningful. We’ve been put into this whole 9-to-5, just money, money, money thing in America and it’s not healthy. That’s another thing that the Grateful Dead community knew. Get on the bus. Get out of the daily grind. Do something that brings you joy. That’s the way you can also make the world a better place, by being a happier person. Happy planet, happy people.”

Shop the Keen x Garcia collection here, and sign the petition to protect Alaska’s Tongass National Forest here.