UCSB Student-Led Shoe Drive is a Step in the Right Direction for Zero Waste
John Palminteri
UC SANTA BARBARA, Ca. – To end the UCSB school year off right, the student-led Zero Waste Committee (ZWC) is gathering all the shoes they can as part of a reuse and recycling effort.
The message is to avoid tossing shoes in the regular trash bins and eventually ending up in the landfills. That’s where there are problems with the shoes breaking down and also the environmental impacts from the materials.
The co-chair of the drive, Matthew Schoen, hopes at least 750 pairs of shoes come in. He is an environmental studies major who is routinely gathering the shoes from drop off spots. Schoen has a team of supporters and they are working with the Associated Students on the plan.
“A.S. recycling kind of does all the lifting for us, which we’re very grateful for them. My committee does the outreach, and so we’ve created something, where when I’m gone, people who ever replace my position can continue doing this,” he said. ” I’m grateful for all the people who are supporting me in this process.”
The drop off spots include, the UCSB Recreation Center, the Intercollegiate Athletics Building, and all residence halls.
Only walking, running (sneakers), casual street shoes and hiking shoes will be accepted. No sandals, flip flops or shoes with metal. The laces need to be tied together so they arrive as a pair.
The shoes will be sent to a company called Got Sneakers. The lightly used shoes that can be repurposed are resold, and the others are sent to a company that will grind them up and that material will be used in another way.
This drive started in April of last year. It was through the Environmental Leadership Incubator (ELI), a nine-month mentorship that helps undergraduates develop hands-on leadership skills to pinpoint an environmental concern and implement a solution.
The goal is to keep the shoes out of the Tajiguas landfill, where they could produce nearly 16,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. “They’ll sit in the landfill for years and years and years until, you know, all these polymers and all these composite materials can break down. And as they’re breaking down, they’re so leaching all those lovely glues and toxic chemicals into the soils, which end up getting into our waterways, ” said Schoen .
He would like to keep the shoes in good condition and repurpose them to those in need in the local area. “If I can keep the shoes in the area, not have to spend spend those emissions shipping them across the country,” there is a benefit.
The shoe drive this year began June 2 and will end this Friday June 13.
While this is mainly a campus-wide program, off campus donations are taken too from the general public. The easiest spot is by going to the student Recreation Center. It has easy parking and is not far from the bus loop.
“I would love to expand, that’s been my dream mountaintop goal is to get expansion throughout Santa Barbara. I want to get people recycling their shoes,” said Schoen. He’s ready, “if anyone in the community wants to reach out and help me get this started.”
He knows the potential when he talks to people about the program. They says, ” I got five pairs sitting in my garage. Let me go bring some in. So it’s really cool just seeing people’s reactions to learning that it is possible and it is accessible too.”
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