The Environmental Impact of Buying Used Instead of New Is Powerful

Use a search engine of your choice and type in “used shoes in landfills.” You’ll quickly discover 300 million pairs of shoes and sneakers end up in U.S. landfills every year. Some of this footwear will take 30-40 years to decompose in the landfill, while others will be incinerated, which leads to toxic chemicals in our air and soil.

But landfills are only part of the environmental story of footwear. Each year, manufacturing new shoes is responsible for 8% of global carbon emissions, according to a report by the Global Fashion Agenda, a non-profit that encourages sustainable trade practices. Last year, 25 billion sneakers were made — that’s 350 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.

Sneaker production is extremely carbon intensive making up 1.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Compare that to air travel, which is responsible for 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Clearly, footwear production creates a huge problem for our environment.

Fortunately, there are ways to minimize the negative impact of new footwear production on our planet. Next time you think about purchasing a new pair of sneakers, consider shopping for a cleaned-up pair of used sneakers instead. Here are some helpful notes to remember when considering buying new or used sneakers:

• Buying used sneakers decreases the need for manufacturing new sneakers.
• Buying and wearing secondhand sneakers sends a message that you care about the environment and can influence others to shop secondhand too.
• Thrifting used sneakers is not only good for the environment, but it’s fun too.
• Reselling a pair of used sneakers to a thrift store or directly to a secondhand consumer creates something called a circular economy. This model encourages sustainability and discourages global waste.
• Get paid for something you aren’t using anymore. You can sell your pre-loved sneakers to online sneaker thrift stores like SneakerCycle. Helping our planet and putting extra cash in your pocket is a win-win.

When you’re ready to shop online for the largest selection of pre-loved athletic footwear, visit SneakerCycle to shop tens of thousands of unique secondhand sneakers. We publish hundreds of new arrivals daily with a variety of sneaker styles and brands including but not limited to: Nike, Adidas, Air Jordan, New Balance, Brooks, Saucony, Hoka One One, Reebok, Merrell, Puma, and more.

At SneakerCycle, we’re committed to sustainable fashion for a sustainable future. Learn more about our mission and shop our store online today.