Is throwing shoes at Bush green?

On the way to work, I heard the story about an Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at George W. Bush. After wondering whether the Secret Service wrestled the offending shoes to ground (those of you who have seen Chevy's Chase's old SNL routines will get that one), I began to wonder...was that shoe throwing green?

Since the NPR story gave no information about the nature of the shoes, or what will happen to them now, I had to do some speculation.

Here's what I came up with...

1) If the shoes were worn out, and would otherwise have been thrown away, it was a creative form of re-use. So on that count, it could be considered GREEN.

2) If the shoes were purchased especially for the throwing event, and will be discarded and not worn afterwards, the act would have to be considered NOT GREEN.

3) However, if the shoes were purchased especially for the throwing at George Bush event, AND were manufactured and sold through a Fair Trade company, the shoe throwing could be considered green even IF they would not be used afterwards as footwear. GREEN

4) If the offending shoes will not be worn afterwards, but will be auctioned at a later date to buy humanitarian aid products or to support global warming research, they could be considered GREEN.

5) If the shoes were made from cruelty-free materials, especially if natural and organic fibers like hemp were used to make the shoes, they could score major GREEN points even if they were otherwise unworn and will be disposed of afterwards. Score double GREEN if they are biodegradable.

So here's the tally:

Leather shoes, made in an exploitative factory, bought especially for the "throwing shoes at George Bush" event, disposed of in a landfill afterwards, NOT GREEN.

Organic fiber shoes or worn out and ready to be thrown away shoes, made under supportive and fair working conditions by adults paid a livable wage, and either reused or sold at auction for a good cause afterwards, GREEN.

So tell me, Mr. unidentified male Iraqi journalist, are you green?

P.S. If the shoes in question were new Manolo Blahnik's or Jimmy Choo's, forget the everything above and send me the shoes!