Inspired by the vast number of shoes he was going through as a Track & Field athlete, UC Santa Barbara student Matthew Schoen helped launch the university’s first large-scale shoe drive.

As an environmental sciences student, he sees the drive as a way to educate the community about sustainability.

“I wanted to create an environmental education program for middle-to-older aged individuals because they’re the ones who have the most financial and political power,” Schoen says.

There were drop-off locations scattered across campus in early April, collecting athletic sneakers that will eventually be recycled. Schoen teamed up with UCSB’s Zero-Waste Committee to set-up the drive and spread the word.

GotSneakers, a zero-waste sneaker recycling company, is helping Schoen with the shipping process at the end of the drive.

All collected shoes will be sent out to Dutch company FastFeetGrinded, where they will begin the recycling process. The company will sort through and grind the shoes for its materials, and work with wholesalers to then resell those materials.

The shoe drive was meant for shoes that would otherwise be thrown away.

“It’s super important to recycle shoes because as those shoes break down in the landfill all those little plastic polymers, chemicals, the glue… they all leech into the soil and then find its way into our waters,” Schoen says.

UCSB’s student-led recycling service, Associated Students Recycling, went around collecting the donations from the various drop-off locations.

“I think it’s something that people don’t think about, how often they go through shoes and just throw them away,” said AS Recycling student coordinator Abbey Lee, who helped collect the shoe donations.

Schoen and AS recycling collected about 70 pairs of shoes and saw a great increase in donations towards the end of the drive.

AS Recycling started sorting the shoes last weekend, which will be shipped to GotSneakers and then the recycling company.

Permanent drop-off boxes for athletic sneakers will remain in place at the Recreation Center and Intercollegiate Athletic Gym where donations will continue, Schoen said.

And in the future, he plans to expand the service throughout campus and Isla Vista, eventually making his way to larger University of California schools such as UCLA and UC Berkeley.

Alissa Orozco is a Noozhawk contributing writer and UC Santa Barbara student.