Eco Friendly Fashion by Eco Empress

Old shoes are one of those funny things. I don’t know about you, but often when it comes time to get rid of my shoes they have been used to the point of no return. I have a few in good condition, but most of them I simply just cannot wear any more.

With my clothes, it’s a little different. Usually I have grown out of them or maybe I’ve just grown out of liking them. So I send them off to the charity shop, perhaps try to fashion them into something a little nicer if I’m feeling creative. But with shoes I’m just not going to do this. So, just what do I do if I want to be eco-friendly about it?

“One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure”

This might sound a little snobby, but it’s important to remember that just because you think your shoes are too old to be worn anymore doesn’t mean everyone will. And someone who has never had the chance to even wear shoes may just jump at the chance of your slightly damaged ones – and this is shoe recycling in action.

Whatever you do, don’t throw your shoes into the landfill. It is perfectly acceptable, and it is becoming more and more acceptable, to recycle shoes. Through more and more research into the matter, I’m discovering that just about everything can be recycled. Sometimes the effort isn’t worth it, but sometimes it is.

Shoe Bins: For a start I have seen plenty of shoe bins around the town and in supermarkets. Chucking your old shoes in there (carefully wrapped in a plastic bag to keep the pair together) is probably a good idea. If they really are terrible, the volunteers who sort through them should know what to do.

Other Recycling programs: It might not be the best idea to give shoes to charity that are completely full of holes. Instead, find a program that will recycle the materials. One of these is run by Nike and will reuse the material for all kinds of good causes. There are in fact loads of these available from a quick Google search – so don’t be lazy!

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