Introduction
By the time you finish reading this article, you would learn how your sneakers could play a major role in saving the planet. We would be looking at the tonnes of sneakers thrown away across the globe and how we could reduce these figures by performing six little actions right from home and seeking external services.
Data Review
According to Concept 21, Americans throw away 300millions of shoes every year, while according to the Dover city council, over 300 million shoes are thrown away in the UK. These shoes end land up in landfills which then take over 30 to 40 years to decompose. With these figures, yet more shoes are being produced with little actions taken to reduce the negative effects of these silent disasters affecting the entire planet.
Why do People change their sneakers?
People turn to buy new sneakers because they are out of size, thus their feet increasing in size hence the need to buy a new one for a comfortable and perfect fit. Additionally, to increase their collections, by adding newly released sneakers to their closet for pride or personal gratification. Others also buy new sneakers because what they have is deteriorated and outmoded.
Six actions to reduce the millions of Sneakers thrown away every year.
1. Sneaker Wash
This is one of the most underrated but effective ways of preventing disposing-off your fresh-looking Stans smith, Jordans, Airforce 1, etc in a few months after saving enough money for too long to buy them on their released date. Dirt on sneakers makes them look outmoded in no time and messes up with the materials used for the sneakers, especially the knitted and glued area of the sneakers. Try to dry wash your sneakers with the right product, periodically to keep them fresh and healthy resulting in a longer life cycle. You could seek external services at SnkersHype if you do not have much time or the necessary skills to wash your sneakers.
2. Sneaker Customization
Do you want to satisfy your personal gratification, hence waiting for that next newly released date? How about giving your existing sneaker a special treat by customizing it in your unique way. Maybe dropping your signatures on it, special features that inspire you like animals, flowers, special cotes, etc. This brings a new look to your sneakers and makes you want to wear them for a few more months or years.
3. Sneaker Repairs
Sneaker repairs are one of the best ways to give a second life to your sneaker collection. Do not quickly throw your sneakers away because it has got the logo label coming off, the stitches getting loose, the soles slightly peeling off, etc. There are great repair services that could solve these problems by restitching and regluing your unglued soles etc. This, however, restrengthen the sneakers and gives them an extra ride in their life cycle.
4. Sneaker Restoration
Adding colors and acrylics to your shoes is not your thing? then restoration of your sneaker is the best second option to customization. This makes you change an entire part of your sneaker. For example, your jordans soles might have deteriorated hence lost that grip when you walk or run in them. You might want to consider replacing the entire soles to get those grip back. You could also try to get new laces, and change the entire color of the tongue sections of your shoes to give them a fresh-looking and healthy life cycle for an extra year.
5. Sneaker Dealership
Instead of throwing your sneakers away, you could consider meeting the sneaker dealer across the street or listing your sneaker online for a resale to make extra cash while saving the planet. You could check out sites like SnkersHype, StockX, and Goat to consider reselling your sneakers for the best price.
6. Sneaker Donation
Finally, there is always someone who wishes to have what you want to dispose of. Try giving your sneakers a second life cycle by donating them to people in precarious situations. This could be done by listing your unwanted sneakers on your social media platforms or dropping them at social associations to support the precarious in society.
Conclusion
The number of sneakers thrown away around the world is very high which falls on landfills and takes more than 30 years to decompose for each sneaker. Yet more trees are cut down and leathers from animals taken to produce extra millions of sneakers per year. Taking at least one or two of the above actions seriously would help reduce this silent disaster in the sneaker industry. Now comment below if you have any other actions you use or which actions work best for you?
