Browse main article categories

Family & Food

- Green parenting - Nutrition - Bodycare - Superfoods

Green home

- Gardening and pest control - Green cleaning - Environment issues - Reduce, Reuse, Recylce

Green technology

- Energy saving - Travel and transport - Waste and recycling - Water conservation - Ethical consumerism

Health & Wellness

- Common ailments - Home health treatments - Health advisor - Tonics and supplements

Mind & Spirit

- Esoteric - Mind power and psychology - Moon-astrology - Nexus Magazine - Ritual and celebrations

Home » Green news

How one pair of shoes can make a difference

Submitted by Mrs Green on Monday, 1 February 2010 Loading Add to favourites  2 Comments

shoes - make a difference to the world with tomsCome on girls; admit it - you love a new pair of shoes! How many pairs do you have in your hiding wardrobe?

But what if shoes were a luxury you couldn’t afford?

TOMS is a shoes company with a difference; with every pair you purchase, TOMS give a pair of new shoes to a child in need.

Since 2006, TOMS have given over 150,000 pairs of shoes to children in need across the world.

Walking is often the primary mode of transportation in developing countries. Children can walk for miles to get food, water, shelter and medical help. Wearing shoes literally enables them to walk distances that aren’t possible barefoot.

Being barefoot all the time increases children’s risks of getting cuts and sores which can lead to pain and infection from contaminated soil. The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. Wearing shoes can prevent this and the risk of amputation.

In addition, many children can’t attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don’t have shoes, they don’t go to school. If they don’t receive an education, they don’t have the opportunity to realize their potential.

There is one simple solution…SHOES.

Of the planet’s six billion people, four billion live in conditions of poverty and injustice. Buying your next pair of shoes from TOMS could make all the difference to one child. Next time you think you don’t have the right shoes for your outfit, think of the billions of people worldwide who don’t have any shoes at all …

Related posts:

  1. Learn to make your own green shoes I’ve always been rather covetous of Green Shoes. These ethical, sustainable beauties are hand made to order in the UK....
  2. Fair trade, organic and recycled school uniform in the high street I’m not a fan of Tesco’s - they’ve been accused of Greenwashing a few too many times, so that now...
  3. International walk to school month - October 2008 With children’s obesity on the increase and them participating in more TV viewing than social and physical activities, October can...
  4. Walk to school week 19 - 23 may 2008 In its thirteenth year, this year’s walk to school campaign has a lovely double ‘green feel’ to it. The theme...
  5. Back to school the eco friendly way Children in the UK are going back to school this week, and it’s the annual shopping frenzy for new uniforms,...

Tags:

If you enjoyed this post, click tags below to show posts on similar topics, or why not add a comment?

2 Comments »

  • Sinead says:

    what an amazing idea! I’m going to pass this on as I think it is a wonderful project. And next time i need a pair of shoes i’ll be on the website.

  • Mrs Green says:

    @Sinead: Great news; I love companies who share so much. I found another one this week which has captured my heart and will be writing about called The Philippine Community Fund - they are awesome.

Leave a comment!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar.

Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page.