You can learn a lot about a person by looking at his shoes, and today there are a multitude of options. The sneakers market has grown at an exponential rate in less than a decade. The market for sneakers was valued at $58 billion in 2018 [1]. According to current CAGR projections, the worldwide market will nearly double in size by 2025 (Sneakers Report 2020, 2020) or 88 billion dollars by 2024 [2]. It is one of the fashion industry′s most profitable segments. The footwear business has been expanding globally in recent years, with demand for sports shoes considered one of the key drivers of this expansion. According to the 2019 World Footwear Yearbook, over 20 billion pairs of shoes are produced each year, with sneakers accounting for the majority of them (Footwear, 2020). It accounted for 16% of the footwear industry′s revenue in 2019. (Sneakers Report 2020, 2020). Originally created for athletics, they are increasingly being worn for everyday use as office attire becomes more informal. The sneaker market is booming, with women′s footwear sales up 37% in 2017 in the United States alone (Ell, 2018). We will focus on the impact of sneakers on two United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): (1) Climate change and (2) Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure [3]. With increase in environmental concerns like rising sea levels, shifting weather patterns, increasing natural disasters such as floods, or cyclones climate change has become the challenge of this century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) with its Fifth Assessment Report provided clear scientific proof that climate change is real and that human activities are to be held accountable for the same. The apparel and footwear industries are an excellent illustration of this paradigm, as they account for roughly 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions (Measuring Fashion, 2018). With over 20 billion pairs of shoes produced each year and 700 million metric tons of CO2 released into the atmosphere, the footwear sector isn′t immune to these worries. The need to change our consumption habits and the need for companies to change their product and production models to fit into sustainable standards is pressing. Apart from the negative impact on the environment caused by the production of toxic gases, disposal of old, damaged, footwear is also a source of concern. Used sneakers are frequently discarded away in the trash. However, sneakers are constructed of materials that contain toxic chemicals that contaminate the environment and causes health problems. Most people do not account what chemicals are used in producing the sneakers, but instead only look at its aesthetics. They overlook the fact that sneakers do cause harm to the environment. Seeking environmental friendly shoes with recycled components has been a challenge. As a result, it is critical that consumers and manufacturers make it a routine to recycle their old footwear. This is where the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure come into play. By addressing two of the SDGs, we will attempt to solve the environmental problems caused by the sneaker and footwear industry. SDG-9 INDUSTRY, INNOVATION, AND INFRASTRUCTURE Polyethylene terephthalate (C10H8O4)N, the material used to make shoes, is not biodegradable and is responsible for more hazardous emissions to the air and water than any other plastic material. According to the 2019 research, 30.5 million metric tonnes of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are produced each year, of which only around 3 million metric tonnes are recycled, leaving the bulk of waste in the ocean. Our product focuses solely on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch cleanup campaign and the repurposing of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles as a shoe-making material because of Polyethylene terephthalate’s high strength-to-weight ratio and moisture resistance. As a result, we would able to solve two big concerns with a single solution. The first is ocean plastic trash, and the second one is manufacturing of polyethylene terephthalate(PET). This would have a direct impact on air and water pollution, marine life, and solid waste management. Furthermore, we would been able to reduce material costs while increasing the hardness and longevity of shoes. B. SDG 13: Climate Action Shoemaking is surprisingly carbon-intensive, accounting for 1.4 percent of global greenhouse emissions, which is much more when compared to air travel which accounts for 2.5 percent of total emissions. In addition to this, plastic or plastic-like materials are used to make the vast majority of sneakers. All of these petroleum-derived plastics (polyester), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and ethylene-vinyl acetate (Eva), emit dangerous levels of CO2 gas [1]. Now some of us may have questions in our minds about how carbon dioxide can cause climate change? So carbon dioxide is one of the most significant greenhouse gases on Earth. Carbon dioxide is discharged into the air through biological processes such as respiration and volcanic eruptions, as well as by human actions like deforestation, land-use changes, and the combustion of fossil fuels [2]. When sunlight hits the earth′s surface, some of it is absorbed by the earth to warm the globe. After absorbing some of the energy, the planet releases some of it back into the atmosphere as heat (also called infrared radiation). Some solar radiation is reflected back into space which does not heat the planet. Some atmospheric gases absorb energy, reducing heat loss to space. These gases are referred to as greenhouse gases [3]. Due to recent accumulation of carbon dioxide from the manufacturing of shoes in the atmosphere has altered the Earth’s climate. Thus, resulting in global warming.
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