Celebrating Green Week: If Al Gore was a Sneakerhead

The health of the earth’s environment has increasingly become an important topic and initiative for a number of individuals and corporations.? While many sneaker companies have started taking steps to be more green, we have composed a list of tips that Al Gore would have for all of the sneaker obsessed. Click here to see some of the tips that Uncle Al has for how sneakerheads can be kinder to Mother Earth.

REDUCE

Buy Green. No, Snoop, not that stuff – buy green shoes. A handful of brands offer environmentally sound sneakers using everything from organic cotton to recycled materials to glueless construction. Do your part and wear kicks that leave a smaller footprint.

Shop locally. You know what, we are all guilty of driving miles and miles to see what is the latest kicks you could never pull off at UNDFTD, but next time you are grabbing general release kicks, stick to your local Foot Locker in Bakersfield and keep your ride off the road.

Carpool. You have real life friends right? Camp out as a crew and roll up together in hippie aunt’s Prius. No need all five of you to drive your own cars to the mall with four empty seats.

Go paperless. Let’s face it, you have NEVER ordered even a pair of socks from that catalog that comes in the mail. You probably are only buying kicks that drop and sell out the same day so what’s the point? If you are onto the newest kicks before they can hit the printing press, rely on Snkrs Day for eye candy. I invented the internet for a reason….

REUSE

Donate, don’t trash. While that may sound like a military policy, consider it an order. You may have had some good use with your shoes, but a few toe box creases and slightly yellowed soles does not mean they are useless. Donate them to your local Goodwill or find someone who could use a new pair of shoes. There is no reason to ever fill landfills with sneakers.

Use your own bag. Next time you head to your favorite sneaker spot, wear a backpack or bring your own bag. There is no reason you need a new bag to bring home your new shoes when you spent $200 on eBay for that Supreme bag.

Rebox. There are countless things that can be stored, packaged, and shipped in shoe boxes. If you ever sell a pair of kicks its always important to double box, so never be that chump who pays $4 at the UPS store for a box that cut down a friend tree. Word of advice – don’t propose using a shoe box…Tipper didn’t like that too much.

RECYCLE

Reuse-A-Shoe. Nike has a great program that recycles worn shoes and uses the ground up materials to build playgound and track surfaces. To find out where to recycle your shoes for the greater good, go to nikereuseashoe.com.

Recycle Cardboard. After you have used the box to move, rebox a regift, recycle it. Do you have any idea how many trees were cut down last year because your lazy ass put your shoe boxes in the trash? Well, maybe not many, but the nation of sneakerheads could save a forest by recycling cardboard rather than trashing.

Final word: Everyone do your part of small steps to make strides for a cleaner and healthier earth.