Final Project Progress Continued

Lower East Side Girls' Club

We met with a group of girls (ages ranging from 14 - 17 years) and asked them questions regarding environmental issues, shoes, and sneakers. We got an interesting variety of responses:

1) Are there any environmental issues that you are interested in?
Green buildings. Global warming. Chemicals and toxins (i.e. batteries). Animals, plants, and trees. Chemicals in make-up. Clothes and shoes disposal. Pesticides in cotton. The killing of animals for leather. AND interestingly someone brought up Nike and the controversy surrounding them about child labor.

2) How many pairs of shoes do you own?
75 flats, 3 Reeboks, 30 Jordans (this was in one girl's lifetime though). One girl wears only flats, no sneakers or other types of shoes. One girl goes through roughly 4 pairs of shoes a year.

3) How many pairs of shoes do you want to replace? Are worn out? Are really truly worn out and MUST be replaced?
One girl throws out 5 - 10 pairs of shoes. Another girl gives her old shoes to her extended family abroad.

4) What are your favorite shoe brands?
Converse. Nike. H&M. Forever 21. American Eagle (?). Coach. Adidas. Puma. Skechers. Reebok.

5) What do you think happens to your shoes after they are thrown out? Do you think they might be affecting the environment?
Yes, shoes get shredded when they are thrown out and the metals in them pollute the land. SIDE NOTE: Jung-Eun brought up the issue that prison inmates shred garbage and while doing so, pieces fly out and affect their skin, due to lack of protective clothing.

6) Would you be open to recycling parts of your shoe? For instance, would you be okay with resoling your sneakers?
Some girls already repair their shoes in different ways. One girl retouches her shoes with a paint from Payless Shoes. Another girl cleans her shoes with AJAX and a toothbrush. But most of them agreed that when their soles wear out, those shoes get tossed.

7) If you found out that your favorite shoe/sneaker brand was harming the environment would you contact them to voice your concerns? Would you boycott that brand?
Many girls said that they would boycott but one pointed out that it would be hard to have that be an effective measure against companies that are international and extremely well-known such as Nike.

8) What do you think is the most powerful way for someone to get a message out to the public? What will make you sit up and listen and get interested?
Video, especially YouTube, is pretty popular with the girls. However one pointed out that she generally likes looking at funny stuff on YouTube, not depressing and somber material. She also noted that videos can be stopped anytime so there's no guarantee the entire message will be viewed and listened to. Another girl said that she likes to read and that she finds posters/ads in the subway trains effective (i.e. ConEdison's environmental ads) since she is literally surrounded by them and can easily look at them as she sits in the train. Posters and commercials were also mentioned as effective tools. Stories as well.


After gathering all these insightful and interesting ideas, we got the girls' email adresses and we're hoping to keep in touch with them and have an ongoing dialogue with them regarding these questions. Currently we're thinking of doing a mock-up of a website that integrates our shoe/sneaker research for students and teachers to explore and use. Also, we're thinking of putting together a sample video (an example of what could be found on the site) that might concentrate on do-it-yourself (DIY) techniques for mending shoes.