By Evie Kaye
Elm Staff Writer
As of Sept. 18, Washington College’s women’s soccer team is holding sneaker donations for old and used sneakers through the GotSneakers organization. Their goal is to help fundraise for their upcoming trip to Spain in the springtime. Donation bins will be all around WC’s campus, as well as at the team’s home games.
According to the GotSneakers organization’s website, they hold “free sneaker recycling programs for individual sellers and organizations of all types and sizes.” The organization’s mission is to keep sneakers out of landfills, which “reduces the need for manufacturing new shoes and sneakers.”
The company believes that through its mission, it can support the economy and lessen the mass production of carbon dioxide in the air to help alleviate climate change and global warming. According to the GotSneakers website, shoes that are thrown into landfills can take up to “30 to 40 years to decompose” and because of this, toxic chemicals “are emitted into the soil and air,” causing air pollution.
After the donations are received, the sneakers will be upcycled.
The women’s soccer team decided to utilize this organization for their upcoming trip to Barcelona, Spain. In order to do this, they have by placed sneaker donation bins at the bottom of Hodson Hall, in the lobby of Benjamin A. Johnson Fitness Center, in the Cain Athletic Center lobby, and at their home games. There aresigns located above the donation boxes that say, “DROP SHOES HERE.”
Juniors Karolina Bocul and Emily Morris are the two coordinators of the drive. According to an email Morris sent out, the pair chose to work with GotSneakers because “[they] want to help our environment” because “200 million pairs of shoes go into America’s landfills every year!”
Furthermore, members of the women’s soccer team community hold a positive outlook for the fundraiser. Morris described their fundraising through shoe donations and helping to “keep sneakers out of our landfills”, and “a definite win-win!” Freshman Sophie Kilbride, who is on the women’s soccer team is also hopeful about the fundraiser.
“I hope this fundraiser will help encourage better environmental habits in our Washington College community while also helping those in need,” Kilbride said.
The bins are currently still out for donations to help fund the women’s soccer team trip to Barcelona. Morris wants the WC community to remember that “every pair helps!”
Photo courtesy of Evie Kaye
Photo Caption: Plastic boxes with sign above them labeled “DROP SHOES HERE” are scattered around campus. The bin pictured above is located in the Johnson Fitness Center.