The Environmental Impact of Shoes
By Arun Raja
Here in Flower Mound, we don’t really tend to think much about the environmental consequences of many of our actions. Whenever we go get a new pair of shoes, or throw an old one away, we often do not realize the growing problem of shoe disposal and how it is negatively affecting our environment. In fact, there are more than 20 billion pairs of shoes, manufactured each year, enough for nearly every person in the world to rotate through 3 pairs each year! The manufacturing of shoes and shoes in general poses many threats to our planet, as during the process many chemicals and fossil fuels are used to produce this good. This simple, yet necessary good, harms humans and wildlife, while also producing large amounts of carbon dioxide and further contributing to the growing issue of global warming.
Here in Flower Mound, we don’t really tend to think much about the environmental consequences of many of our actions. Whenever we go get a new pair of shoes, or throw an old one away, we often do not realize the growing problem of shoe disposal and how it is negatively affecting our environment. In fact, there are more than 20 billion pairs of shoes, manufactured each year, enough for nearly every person in the world to rotate through 3 pairs each year! The manufacturing of shoes and shoes in general poses many threats to our planet, as during the process many chemicals and fossil fuels are used to produce this good. This simple, yet necessary good, harms humans and wildlife, while also producing large amounts of carbon dioxide and further contributing to the growing issue of global warming.
The largest environmental impacts of shoes comes from the manufacturing stages of the shoe life cycle. However, to no surprise, people seem to think that their shoes are only an environmental problem after they have thrown them out. Large machines and harmful chemicals are used to simply manufacture the shoes. Some chemicals such as chlorinated phenols, and paraffins are used to produce shoes, and these chemicals serve to preserve the suede, canvas, and leather on the shoes. These chemicals are easily leaked into the environment through water discharge from the factories, and they end up altering wildlife dependent on certain water sources. Not only this, coal and other fossil fuels are used to power large factories in order to produce these shoes, producing a large amount of carbon dioxide in the process. This carbon dioxide eventually ends up in our atmosphere, contributing the greenhouse effect. On average, the production of one shoe produces 30 pounds of carbon dioxide and there are more than 20 billion shoes produced each year! Furthermore, the transportation of this good to the various stores around the world is also harmful. Since these shoes are often produced in third world and developing countries, there is a lot of transportation through ships and airplanes required as well. This increases the already exorbitant carbon dioxide emissions produced by this one industry. All in all, the manufacturing process of shoes poses many threats to the environment as there are large amounts of carbon dioxide produced and harmful chemicals are used to manufacture them.
The most common problem with shoes, however, is the disposal. Nearly all of the shoes thrown out end up on the landfill, where it’ll take hundreds of years for the synthetic materials and plastic in the shoe to decompose. They can eventually end up contaminating the soil and groundwater as the chemicals leak out as they start to decompose. Consuming contaminated water or contaminated plants results in biomagnification and bioaccumulation. Ultimately, the disposal of shoes has a large impact on the environment much like the manufacturing, as harmful chemicals start to leak into and contaminate the soil and water in both stages.
Do you think it is realistic for us to be more environmentally sustainable with our shoe production?
How do you think you can do a better job in order to reduce your shoes’ ecological footprint?
Would you ever buy more expensive footwear that is more environmentally friendly, such as allbirds?
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