Rainbow Sneakers and Climate Change

Online pic.

Pretty sneakers with all the rainbow colors contribute to climate change. How?

Obviously, dye is involved to make that rainbow montage. The resulting chemical waste is disposed in rivers and other water sources. Chemicals also invade natural air and infect it.

So what are you saying? We should stop wearing t-shirts, hoodies and clothes with many colors? C’mon, we need color to spice up this drab life.

O. K. Point taken. The problem is how factories make them and how we throw out old ones.  Your house or apartment block has blue bins to drop off things, that hopefully can be recycled. Some even have slots for bottles and computer stuff like cellphone chargers.

Where do we drop off old sneakers, in the garbage can or blue bin? Garbage. They cannot be recycled. We threw them out because they are smelly. They were not old, with wide mouth soles asking for change.

We threw them out because we don’t have time to wash them. They are also made from nylon so we are not sure if it can withstand scrubbing.

White leather sneakers love the good old scrub, but that was during mama’s time who did not stand dirt or odor of any kind. So, it’s not that we should not wear rainbow, red or lime sneakers.

The point is that sneakers in general are smelly so we can’t take them to Goodwill or any other used clothing store. Neither can we give them to younger siblings. Since they have no value, is it worth destroying the air and rivers? We are wearing masks so the answer is right there.

Having said that, white leather upper sneakers are an alternative, if we are serious about saving the environment. White sneakers are just one example.

Two years ago, I bought a pair of men’s sneakers because they are black leather upper, so they just need a damp cloth to keep them clean. By the way ladies, browse the men’s section. Sometimes they have better quality clothing than ours.

This is another ‘written podcast’ by Nonqaba waka Msimang.