Shoe Economics and "Going Green"

During the past couple of months, we have seen a steady stream of customers replacing their worn-out Z-CoiL shoes. Many of those people bought their shoes in 2004. They worked in the shoes every day and it took over 6 years before the shoe finally died! In fact, the running joke among many Z-CoiL enthusiasts is "they just can't kill the shoes"!

That got me thinking about the environmental and economic impact of wearing shoes built to last. If we all wore better constructed, durable footwear, there would be far fewer shoes wearing out prematurely and going into landfills.

Every year, an estimated 300 million pairs of shoes go into landfills, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior. Many of the sneakers with traditional Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) midsoles can take over 1,000 years to biodegrade. As the shoes break down, they can also leach toxins into the landfill. In our view, the key to reducing the sheer number of shoes going into landfills is to (1) invest in quality, (2) buy "greener" technologies and (3) recycle your shoes.

Investing in Quality

Brands like Ryn, Z-CoiL and Finn Comfort have a reputation for being extremely comfortable and lasting for many years. While they are more expensive than bargain brands, they are far more comfortable and they last considerably longer. Bargain brands are meant to be worn, used up and replaced often - which means they head to the landfill faster. Quality brands last for years instead of months, and many can be refurbished and re-soled for added life.

Investing in quality also saves money. Consider the leading, lower-priced rocker-sole shoes ($100-$120). They feel great when you first wear them. After a few months, the memory foam starts to break down, and the shoe starts "sagging". The outsole tread wears down smooth and the lining of the shoe starts to fall apart. After 6-8 months of wear, you "retire" the shoe and buy a new pair (another $100-$120). After 2 years of wear, you have spent north of $300 to wear 3-4 pairs shoes that only really feel comfortable for the first 3 months of wear. After 2 years of wear, a Ryn shoe will feel just as comfortable as the first day you bought them. Finn Comfort wearers routinely walk into our store in shoes that have regularly been worn for over 5 years. These are brands that are worn almost everyday that have a much longer lifespan and saves money. The next time you consider buying bargain brand shoes, stop and ask yourself if you are really saving money.

Buy "Greener"Technologies

Some footwear companies are investing in technologies that are far more environmentally friendly. Brooks announced their new BioMoGo midsole this year, which is a specially treated EVA midsole that will break down 50 times faster than conventional midsoles in a landfill. Brooks estimates that this innovation could reduce 29.9 million pounds of landfill waste over the next 20-25 years. Click Here for our Brooks shoes with BioMoGo technology. Finn Comfort and other fine manufacturers use natural vegetable leather tanning processes which are far healthier for your feet and eliminate the need for harsh chemicals to process the leather uppers.

Recycle Your Shoes

We all have shoes that never felt very good or fit poorly taking up space in our closets. Children can outgrow shoes long before they are worn out. Donate these shoes to the Salvation Army, Mobile Loaves & Fishes, or Soles4Souls, and your shoes will find a new life on the feet of people in dire need of shoes. If many of the 300 million pairs of shoes found new homes around the world, it would be a godsend for the world's impoverished regions and much more friendly for the environment. Total Relief Footwear is a year-round drop-off location for individual footwear donations for Soles4Souls. Please note that we are no longer accepting "group shoe drives" at our store.

In January, we organized a shoe drive, in partnership with Soles4Souls, collecting over 28,000 pounds of shoes distributed to earthquake victims by the charity. Here's a video re-capping the shoe drive. It was the largest donation of shoes by a single store in Soles4Soul's history.