Do you have a collection of outdated shoes taking up room in your closet? Do not discard them just yet! There are several uses for old sneakers, including reusing, and upcycling. In this blog, we will look at inventive and environmentally friendly ways to reuse and dispose of your old shoes. Let’s get started!

What to Do With Old Shoes?

Donate them to Goodwill

You can give your old shoes to Goodwill commodity if you feel like you won’t wear them anymore. Donating your old shoes to Goodwill is easy. Simply gather up your shoes, make sure they are clean and in good condition, and drop them off at your nearest Goodwill location. You can feel good knowing that your donation will help someone in need and support Goodwill’s mission.

Sell Them

An environmentally beneficial method of getting rid of your shoes is to sell them online. Selling them online gives them a fresh start. Simply tossing your old shoes which adds to the growing waste and pollution issue.

Online shoe sales of used footwear can be lucrative. If your shoes are in good shape and are a well-known brand or style, there is a significant possibility that someone will be willing to buy them.

Recycle them

The only option left is to take your old shoes to a recycling facility if they are too worn to be sold or donated, can’t be upcycled, and are too full of holes to form an attractive planter. The circular economy of recycling and reuse is promoted by disposing of shoes in a waste recycling facility rather than in a landfill or the ocean.

You can easily identify a recycling facility or drop-off location near your home in the UK where your old, unwanted shoes can be recycled into brand-new footwear.

Turn them into wall hanging

• Turn them into a wall hanging.
• Use old shoes as the canvas for your own artistic expression, or display them on their own to create an eye-catching focal point in any room.
• You can even turn them into furniture!

Use them in the garden

• Use them as planters.
• Use them as stepping stones.
• Use them to mark a path or garden area by tying them together in pairs and placing them at intervals along the path, keeping them neat and tidy.
• You can also use old shoes to mark out flower beds or other areas where you want to grow plants, such as vegetables or flowers, which will help you create a beautiful garden environment that you can enjoy every day!

Upcycle them

There are numerous customization choices, including using fabric or shoe paint to add a new pattern or design, dying them a different colour (particularly simple for suede with a can of shoe spray paint), switching up the laces, or adding stylish patches made from your favourite materials. Make a fresh design you will want to wear and give your worn-out shoes the much-needed glow-up!

Make a wind chime

If you have any old shoes lying around, put them to good use by making a wind chime! This project is easy and fun, and it will add a touch of personality to your outdoor space.

Start by collecting all of the materials you’ll need: old shoes, scissors, string or twine, a drill, and a hammer. Once you have everything gathered, use the scissors to cut the toes off of the shoes. Next, drill holes into the top of each shoe. The number of holes will depend on how many chimes you want on your wind chime.

Once the holes are drilled, thread the string or twine through each hole and tie it off. You can make your chime as long or as short as you like – just be sure that all of the shoes are evenly spaced. When you’re finished tying all of the shoes together, find a place to hang your new creation!

Try using them for sandals

You can also make sandals out of your old shoes. Why not convert a pair of slightly damaged but still workable shoes into sandals if the soles are still in good shape? This is a sustainable technique to repurpose your old shoe and give them a new life to it.

Conclusion

Old shoes can take up a lot of space, but they do not have to be thrown away. By donating them to charity or upcycling them into something new and creative, you can make sure that your old shoes are put to good use instead of being tossed in the landfill, which doesn’t help reduce landfill waste. With these tips, you have plenty of options for what to do with those old shoes!