The hard facts about the sneaker industry

“Climate change is a threat to human wellbeing and the health of the planet. Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future.”

— The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The negative impact of the sneaker industry on the planet:

  • Over-production

    In 2019, 66.6 million pairs of shoes were manufactured every single day – adding up to a total of over 24.3 billion pairs.

  • High carbon emissions

    The footwear industry produces over 280 billion kg of CO2 a year, the equivalent of flying around the world 25 million times.

  • High resource consumption

    Trainers are complex objects made from various materials such as rubber, metal, cotton, foam & leather, all of which use up a lot resources.

  • Deforestation

    With roughly 50% of all leather products being shoes, there’s a direct correlation between chopping down rainforests & our shoes.

  • Low recycling rate

    Experts estimate 90% of shoes are NOT recycled. Instead they end up in landfill where the component parts can last for over 100 years.

  • Waste & landfill

    An estimated 22 billion pairs of shoes end up in landfill each year.
    That’s enough pairs to fill 44,000 olympic-sized swimming pools!

The negative impact of the sneaker industry on people:

  • Exploitation of children & refugees

  • Extremely low wages

    It is estimated that there are 50 million homeworkers across South East Asia who earn under $8 per day as a family.

  • Poor working conditions

    Workers in shoe factories work in extremely poor conditions with no fire escapes, ventilation & appropriate protective equipment.

  • Exposure to toxic chemicals

    Chemicals found in tanneries include chromium six, cadmium, lead, & mercury which workers inhale & absorb for long hours everyday.

  • Low life expectancy

    Workers in Bangladesh’s leather tanneries are found to have a 90% chance of dying by the age of fifty due to exposure to toxic chemicals.

Despite being fully aware of the above facts, sneaker brands are not doing enough to reduce their negative impact.
Instead, many of them make false claims about their sustainability initiatives in an attempt to mislead us.

This is WHY we are campaigning for a radical shift.

Click below to find out how to you can take action & help make a positive impact in the sneaker industry.

Frank thoughts

Our co-kick-starter Sven Segal shares his thoughts as an industry insider…