Image credit: TreadLightly
Did you know the average Australian admits to owning about five pairs of shoes they don’t wear?
Thats about the equivalent of 100 million unused shoes that could end up as landfill!
TreadLighlty, an industry-led national recycling initiative by the Australian Sporting Goods Association (ASGA) and Save Our Soles (SOS) is helping put an end to this statistic, by taking unwanted sports and active lifestyle shoes recycling them into mats and flooring for retail stores, gyms and playgrounds.
Their recent research has showed that nearly a quarter of respondents hang onto their old shoes, with many people admitting it’s for a rainy day or for sentimental reasons – while half confess to simply throwing their unwanted shoes in the rubbish.
“This research commissioned by TreadLightly and conducted by 10 THOUSAND FEET highlights just how many shoes are collecting dust at home, and how many shoes end up in the rubbish because we don’t know what else to do with them,” said Shaun Bajada, Executive Director, ASGA.
Bajada says this is a national problem and a significant environmental concern with shoe components taking over 1000 years to breakdown.
“TreadLightly exists to solve a very real industry issue. We’re committed to working closely with retailers, manufacturers and consumers to reduce the industry’s environmental footprint and to stop millions of shoes ending up as landfill every year”, he said.
Supported by the Federal Government, the company aims to recycle more than one million pairs of sporting and athletic lifestyle shoes by June 2023 to save 400+ tonnes of footwear going to landfill.
South Aussies can hand-in their preloved footwear at any participating retailers, for them to be recycled responsibly and given a new life, as flooring for outlets across Australia.
Rebel Sports, The Athlete’s Foot and Sports Power are just some of the places you can say goodbye to those old shoes, and hello to knowing you’ve done something good for the environment!
For a full list of participating stores, head to the TreadLightly website.
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