SUSTAINABILITY

A pair of trainers needn’t cost the Earth

The shoe industry sells us a staggering 24 BILLON pairs of shoes globally EACH YEAR! This comes at a massive cost – not just to the consumers but also to the environment; if the shoe industry was a country, it would be classed as the 17th biggest polluter in the world. 

Because of the complex ways running shoes are constructed, and the array of synthetic materials needed to product them, it takes an astonishing 14kg of carbon dioxide (CO2eq) and 1398 litres of freshwater to get each pair to you (the consumer).

Environmental and health impacts are high during material extraction and manufacturing, and they are nearly impossible to recycle with the complexity. 

For the average person's yearly shoe purchases that's  the equivalent of taking a 900km flight and drinking 8,000 (500ml) bottles of water at the same time! 

Offset your own footprint with OUR Shoes  

By donating your sports shoes to kids in Africa with Our Shoes, you are giving them a second life.  As the shoes only go through production once, the carbon cost associated with the raw material extraction and manufacturing stages has already been incurred.

These are the most impactful stages to the environment where up to 60% of the overall carbon footprint is generated.  We also use a distribution network where no extra shipping is incurred; our packaging is fitted in spare spaces where it can be, on transport already heading for that destination. 

With no other shoe purchase or production for this second-life use, we offset the carbon cost of purchasing additional shoes and delay any carbon cost associated with shoe end-of-life processing.

The more shoes donated and the more partnerships we have, the more we can reduce shoe CO2 ‘debt'.  This means our earth manages less CO2 emissions for that year.

REDUCE YOUR COMPANY'S CARBON FOOTPRINT

Most companies today are very environmentally and socially aware; they need to be to run a successful business in today’s world and climate. 

Many of them will have signed up and committed to an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) policy to help them achieve these aims.  

The pre-loved concept isn't new, however, at Our Shoes we have a simple sustainable solution to circular fashion by giving donated shoes a tracked, new, carbon natural life in Africa.

Corporate donations help fund our operational costs and Our Shoes is happy to work with companies with similar values, helping them meet offset targets for impacts such as carbon footprints and water consumption.   

To find out more and how we can benefit your company please see our ESG page.

HOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE WILL IT MAKE?

A typical pair of sports shoes has a carbon cost of 14kg of CO2.

A typical tree can absorb around 21 kilograms of CO2 per year.   
 
This makes the carbon offset for every 10 pairs of shoes donated and being given a second life, the equivalent of carbon dioxide taken out of the atmosphere by 14 mature trees per year. in addition saving almost 14,000 litres of freshwater.

That's staggering! 