Rothy's exchanged plastic water bottles for shoes this Earth Day to create awareness around the cost ... [+]
Rothy’s made an interesting offering this Earth Day: a new pair of Rothy’s shoes (free) in exchange for a used water bottle. Only 100 pairs were available at three locations across the country: Pasadena, CA, New York City, and Boston.
The aim was to make a statement: the cost of plastic should be higher, much higher, as high as a pair of Rothy’s perhaps. Instead of being a cheap, ubiquitous material, single-use plastics ought to be valued more, said James Rogers, VP of Sustainability at Rothy’s.
People lined up outside the stores and within minutes, they had gone through the allotted shoes. This is a first-of-its-kind event for the footwear brand. But it’s not their first foray into making bold statements about sustainability. Last year, the company advocated for a better Bottle Bill in New York, pushing lawmakers to up the refund from 5 cents to 10 cents for every plastic bottle recovered. In fact, neighboring Connecticut made that change; it went into effect this January. There’s a growing effort to take this state-level legislation and program and make it federal, given that data seems to indicate states with bottle bills and recovery incentives have higher recycling rates.
Rothy's wants to see a significant reduction in single-use plastics.
This Earth Day, Rothy’s is pushing to end single-use plastics from ever being made. This means using the plastic that already exists, and asking legislators to move forward with a different piece of legislation: the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act, which was reintroduced to Congress last year.
Historically, the bill has called for phasing out certain single-use plastics altogether, and banning non-recyclable plastics, among other measures. Rothy’s is encouraging consumers to educate themselves on the bill, and support.
“We see policy as a way to level the playing field,” says Rogers. “The policies that we’re advocating for, we see them as a triple win: better for society, better for companies, and better for the economy, even though we recognize that there are naysayers who may disagree with us.”
Rothy’s has built a brand on repurposing plastic (ocean-bound and those single-use plastic water bottles) into footwear. And while Rogers acknowledges that some plastic is needed in the world, for high-value purposes such as medical devices, much of the single-use plastic is not necessary. And that’s what Rothy’s wants to focus on reducing.
“We don’t need to make more plastics in the world. We want to increase the recycling rate and decrease the amount of virgin plastic. Truthfully, our competition right now is landfills.”
Vermont-based advocacy group Beyond Plastics put out a report in 2022 that shared some dismal statistics for plastic recycling: only about 5 to 6% of plastics were being recycled in 2021. While paper recycling has been largely successful, plastics have struggled and continue to with much of it ending up in landfills, Rogers points out.
And Rothy’s is exploring other ways it can prevent more shoes from ending up in landfills. The company already has a take-back program (which rewards customers for bringing back used Rothy’s), but is also “evaluating resale options,” says Rogers. “We do see that as a next step.”
That said, he also points out that Rothy’s are “circular” in their nature because of their durability. “When a lot of people think about circularity, their mind goes to resale. I’d argue that we’re making shoes that can be washed, last a long time, and are very durable. That’s also valuable.”
The issue of waste goes deeper down the supply chain to manufacturing. While consumers can do their part, what are makers doing to reduce waste in production?
Rothy’s announced last year that they have a zero-waste (and LEED Gold certified) facility in China. To qualify for True Zero-Waste certification, a business must show that it’s diverting more than 90% of landfill waste. “I think it’s 90% because some things are very hard to recycle or eliminate, but overall, you have to show that you’re moving towards basically having no waste,” clarifies Rogers.
While all this becomes pertinent on Earth Day, Rothy’s, he adds, is always thinking about circularity and aiming to reduce its footprint. Making shoes certainly has a cost. But with this Earth Day campaign, they’re hoping that consumers start to think about single-use plastics differently.
