Good for the sole

“We plan to essentially shoe the world,” says Ron Snyder, CEO of Crocs, makers of the ubiquitous colourful resin clogs. His goal: to recycle old, worn-down Crocs and turn them into new shoes that can be distributed among feet in need. The company started donating shoes a little more than a year ago, when the brand’s materials scientists figured out a way to recycle their super-comfy proprietary Croslite material. At that time, the Croslite that was given away were the scraps left over from the manufacturing process. Snyder wanted to take it a step further and use material from discarded Crocs. Enter the non-profit recycled footwear-donation program, SolesUnited. Donated shoes are sorted, cleaned, ground and manufactured into brand new lightweight clogs that are shipped to Africa and the Dominican Republic; Snyder hopes to reach more countries this year. The program is unique in that Snyder and Co. are giving away new shoes instead of old. If you’re a Crocs-lover with used models to spare, check out solesunited.com to find out how you can help brighten the lives of those in need with these snazzy shoes.