Reusing Shoes: How Donating Helps the Planet
Donating shoes helps the planet because every pair worn again is a pair that doesn’t need to be made new. Reusing a pair keeps it whole, as it is, so someone else can walk out of the door in it. Recycling breaks it down for its materials. Both are better than the bin, but reuse saves far more.
That is why we collect wearable shoes, trainers and boots free from your doorstep. How the collection works is on donate your shoes.
The waste hierarchy
Reuse first, recycling second
UK waste law ranks the ways of dealing with waste in order, from best to worst:
Prevent it
Buy fewer pairs and make them last.
Reuse it
Pass it on so it gets worn again as it is. This is what donating your shoes does.
Recycle it
Break it down and turn the materials into something new.
Recover it
Burn it to make energy.
Dispose of it
Landfill, the last resort.
A reused pair of boots is still a whole pair of boots. Shoes are some of the hardest things to recycle. A single trainer can mix leather, rubber, foam, fabric, glue and metal eyelets, all stitched and stuck together. Separating them is slow and difficult. Wearing them again avoids that problem entirely.
What it saves
What reusing shoes saves
Making new shoes uses energy, water and raw materials, from leather and rubber to the plastics in foam soles and synthetic uppers. Then they are boxed and shipped. Every pair of trainers, sandals or wellies that gets worn again means one less pair needs to be made.
Our own estimate, for every kilo of shoes worn again rather than replaced:
Work out your own with the green calculator
These are estimates, taken from the low end of published ranges on purpose, so they understate rather than overstate. For example, if you clear out 5 kg of shoes and they are worn again rather than replaced, that is an estimated 15 kg of CO2e and 12,500 litres of water saved.
When reuse isn’t possible
When recycling is the right answer
Some shoes really are finished. The soles have worn through, the uppers have split, or a pair has lost its other half. Those can’t be worn again, so they should be recycled, not binned. Many council textile banks and household recycling centres accept shoes. Check with your council to see what yours takes.
Everything we collect goes back to our warehouse. There we sort it by hand and pass on what can be used again. See the whole journey on what happens to my shoes?
So which should you do?
- Clean, wearable and still in pairs? Donate them. Book a free doorstep shoe collection.
- Worn out or broken? Recycle them through your council.
- Not sure? Check what shoes can I donate?
The one thing never to do is bin them. Why that matters is on why shouldn’t old shoes go in the bin?
Every day
Other ways to keep shoes in use
- Take good shoes and boots to a cobbler. A new sole or heel can add years.
- Clean and polish leather, and waterproof boots before winter.
- Rotate between pairs so each one has time to dry out.
- Pass outgrown children’s shoes and wellies to friends and family, or donate them.
- Buy second-hand, from charity shops, markets or online.
- When you do buy new, choose well-made shoes that can be repaired.
Every pair you pass on gives someone else an affordable choice and means one less pair made new. You can read about who wears them next on who do my shoes help?, and booking takes a few minutes: see how do I donate my shoes?
Sources
- The waste hierarchy is set out in the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.
- Our per-kilo estimates are the conservative factors we use across our site for shoes kept in use rather than replaced.
Ready to donate your shoes?
It’s free, you don’t need to be at home, and you choose the charity your donation supports.