Why Shoe Drive Fundraisers Are Good for the Environment

Did you know that 34 billion shoes are manufactured each year? And out of that
34 billion, 300 million are discarded each year with only about 5% being recycled.
If you’re as concerned about the environment as we are, you’d know that the
manufacturing, transportation and energy used to produce shoes is responsible
for producing 1.4% of all greenhouse gas emissions. That’s a lot of carbon in our
atmosphere.
A study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology revealed that 30 pounds of
carbon dioxide is emitted per pair of running shoes manufactured and the energy
required to produce said shoes through energy intensive processes – molding,
foaming, heating, binding – could keep a 100-Watt light bulb lit for a week. Just
think the shoes in your closet right now could power up a light bulb for one week
if you ran out of power.
If only 5% of shoes are recycled, that means 95% end up in a landfill somewhere,
contaminating the local environment by leaching chemicals, dyes and metals
whilst the synthetic rubbers and plastics that they’re built from take hundreds if
not thousands of years to decompose.
Now, let us take a look at the water footprint of a pair of shoes. Not all have the
same water footprint – but most are upwards of 2000 gallons of water. A pair of
sneakers, because they’re mostly made from cotton use 2250 gallons of water,
one pair leather shoes 2113 gallons of water, to make a pound of synthetic
rubber, used for shoe soles, 55 gallons of water are needed. The average pair of
shoes needs 2257 gallons of water to be manufactured.
What can we personally do to reduce our water and carbon footprint?
Recycle our shoes and those of our families and friends for a worthy cause
Host your own shoe drive fundraiser
Donate to a neighborhood shoe drive fundraiser
Always donate shoes in pairs
Don’t wear down the soles, then donate, remember someone else will get
to wear them
Keep shoes out of the landfill