Reduce Your Carbon Footprint with Recycled Sneakers
Courtesy of Converse
Written By: Regan Daley
300 million pairs of shoes. No, that’s not the shoe collection of the Kardashians and the casts of all the Real Housewives shoes combined. That’s the number of shoes that end up in landfills – each year. And the sneaker industry is growing faster than Usain Bolt can sprint 100 meters – expected to exceed $95 billion by 2025. That means, more sneakers will find their way to a garbage heap...rather than a heap in the back of your closet.
So what? So the landfills have an abundance of discarded Nike Pegasus and Adidas Ultraboosts lying in them. It’s just sneakers. It’s not like it’s smelly garbage, right? Wrong.
Sneaker production is carbon intensive, producing 1.4% of the global greenhouse gas emissions and making them a significant contributor to the shoe pollution. The plastic, petroleum, and other harmful chemicals that go into the sneaker making process, especially in shoes consisting of rubber or leather, can contribute significantly to the carbon dioxide emissions that are leading to air pollution. Additionally, it can take up to 40 years for a pair of shoes to degrade in landfills.
While the recycling rate in the United States has increased from less than 7 percent in 1960 to 32 percent in 2018, there is still a long way to go. When it comes to recycling, why don’t more Americans or athletic shoe companies consider recycling their sneakers?
Good news. Some do.
In 2019, Nike and Converse launched Move to Zero, a campaign aimed at eliminating carbon and waste. To achieve this goal, Nike and Converse are using more eco-friendly materials in the production of their shoes. For example, to manufacture the Converse Renew Recycled Chuck Taylors, the company uses the waste from the factories, as well as recycled Converse. According to Lewontin, 71 percent of Nike and Converse shoes are now incorporating recycled waste from their excess manufacturing waste.
Additionally, the Renew sneaker is made from 100% recycled polyester created from used plastic bottles. Approximately 11 plastic bottles are recycled for the creation of a pair of the Renew Converse. The Nike Flyknit Recycled Running Shoe is another effort by Nike to keep plastic out of our seas. Each shoe, according to Nike, contains 6 -7 recycled plastic bottles.
Nike’s and Converse’s commitment to more eco-friendly shoes does not end with its manufacturing processes. They are also implementing a recycling shoe program. Consumers can recycle their old sneakers by handing them over to a Nike store to be reused. Just locate a Nike location near you to begin the process of recycling your old sneakers (only at participating locations).
The only way to reduce environmental harm is to do something about it. Companies like Nike and Converse are taking steps to use recycled materials and create new initiatives hel[ to reduce these emissions. So, instead of running away from this climate crisis, let’s run in the direction of a more sustainable future.
Just do it.
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