Have you ever wondered how to raise money for your cause and help the environment at the same time? A shoe drive is your answer. It’s also a fun way to engage the whole community.
How a Shoe Drive Fundraiser supports the Planet
We need to find ways to live more sustainably such that we don’t waste what we have. Our imprint on this world is so damaging partly because of the rubbish we create but also because we don’t stop and think. If we all made a few small changes then we would see a huge impact. A shoe drive is a great way to start because of the following benefits:
- Delay the time to landfills
- Maximize your resources
- Support conservation activities
Delay the Time to Landfills
The best way any of us can help the planet is to make sure that when we use its resources that we at least use them properly. There’s nothing worse than wasting. So, rather than have a 6 month old pair of shoes in the landfill, it’s better to have a 5 year old pair of shoes. How do you do that? Thanks to a shoe drive. This is because you essentially create a second hand market in emerging countries to make sure your shoes are utilized for their whole life.
Don’t forget though that those shoes still need to be thrown away at the end of their life, regardless of how long that is. We shouldn’t be passing on our rubbish to emerging countries. So, when you do a shoe drive, ask your nonprofit organization what they’re doing to support those countries to dispose of their old shoes responsibly.
Maximize your Resources
Resources are running out so let’s make sure we use them to their maximum. A shoe drive helps that happen because it basically creates a second hand market of shoes in emerging countries. This means that they’re used for their full life potential.
Support Conservation Activities
A shoe drive helps the planet by making sure that shoes are used to their fullest. What about what you actually raise your money for though? Why can’t you take it a step further and raise money for those causes trying to save the rainforest or bees, for example? Sometimes it’s worth thinking bigger than just our immediate needs. You’d might be pleasantly surprised at how many people want to get involved.
A Shoe Drive Supports the Global Community
There’s something fun about collecting old shoes because you can laugh at old fashions or wrong decisions that you never wore. Doing this over a one day event with food and drinks, for instance, can also bring together the community. The added bonus is that you also have something bigger that you’re supporting. After all, isn’t it incredible to support people on a continent that you’ve never met before? This is how you’re doing it with your shoe drive:
- Help people help themselves
- Protect feet
- Raise awareness of shoe wastage
Help People Help Themselves
Whilst handouts are clearly helpful in the short term, they don’t actually help people in the long run. This is because people become dependent on them. The most impactful thing you can ever do for someone is to help them help themselves. A shoe drive does just this.
All your old shoes get donated to small businesses in places like Africa and South America. This allows people to sell these second hand items to their own communities. They now have a way to sustain their lives.
Protect Feet
It’s easy to take shoes for granted. We forget how much they protect our feet from injury and disease. This is especially true in tropical climates where bacterial infections develop quickly. Furthermore, cities in emerging countries often have streets and alleyways that are half covered in debris and general waste that no one really wants to walk in. A shoe drive though, helps give people access to shoes they might not have been able to before.
Raise awareness of shoe wastage
Another secondary advantage of shoe drive is to make people realize just how much they waste. If people used their things for their full lives then landfills might not get so full. This is the same for shoes. After all, do we really need to change our shoes very 6 months? Fashion trends often drive us to this unfortunately. Then again, donate your shoes in a shoe drive and you’ve delayed the time they have to be thrown away.
Final Ideas for Doing your Bit with a Shoe Drive Fundraiser
If you want to help the planet then you should be thinking about how you use your resources. The more you can get out of them without getting new stuff then the less you use. It’s also a huge benefit to spread the word and get everyone to do their little bit. A shoe drive is the perfect opportunity to bring the community together and see how much waste you create. Being able to then use that waste to help others create businesses and build their own lives is an amazing thing to do. You’ll feel proud that you’ve done your part and hopefully you will have convinced others to do the same so slowly changing this world for a better place.
