Reduce, Reuse, REVIVE

4/22/2024

Get the new shoe feeling from your old pairs! For Earth Day learn everything you need to know about caring for your fave pairs.

Canada dumps 500 million Kilograms of textiles into the garbage every year. That’s about a billion pounds. And just in case that number flew over your head, that’s about 100 elephants worth of waste.

As LB employees I'm sure you can imagine our shoe collections are quite extensive, to say the least. So for Earth Day this year we decided to switch it up a bit. Traditionally, Earth Day is spent planting trees or collecting litter, but instead of picking up waste, we decided to not add to it. Rather than throwing out a pair of old shoes and grabbing some new ones, we challenged the LB team to revive a pair of their shoes and put one of our favourite shoe cleaners to the test.

The star of this show is a pair of Reebok Club C Double Sneakers In White and we will be using Jason Markk Essential Kit to make them good as new. To use this product we mixed a bit of the solution in warm water until suds started to form. We then dipped the brush in the mixture, and with a bit of elbow grease we quickly saw these shoes start to transform. The best part about Jason Markk is that their products are 100% biodegradable with a USDA BioPreferred badge to prove it.

Now Jason Markk did its thing with these old Reeboks but we still found that they could use a bit more love. One of our favourite tricks for reviving old shoes is to swap the old laces for some new ones. It’s way more affordable than buying a new pair of shoes and just look, the results speak for themselves.

Et Voila! We have a fresh looking pair of Reebok Club C sneakers that are ready to take on Summer 2024. Once they were cleaned to our liking we added an extra layer of protection with the EF Walters Eco Protect Spray (another biodegradable gem). This spray creates a thin barrier over shoes to lessen the chances of dirt clinging to them. The EF Walters Eco Protect Spray is truly a holy grail product for us LB employees.

Huge shout out to Courtney, our Digital Ads specialist, for trusting the process. Hope you’re enjoying your squeaky clean Reeboks.

Now the Jason Markk cleaning kit worked perfectly for these Reeboks and we’re confident the EF Walter Eco Protect Spray will keep them clean for a while, but there’s a chance the shoes you want to throw away need a different type of shoe care. We have quite a few shoe cleaners and protectors and the one you choose depends on the material of your shoes. If you are looking to freshen up any pair of UGGs we recommend going with the UGG shoe care Kit. This kit comes with a protector, shoe cleaner and a shoe renewer, safe to use on the suede and sheepskin material. If you are looking to revive a pair of leather shoes, like some Dr. Martens, we recommend reaching for the Dr. Martens Wonder Basalm Shoe Protector. Leather shoes require moisture to stay looking sharp which is why we love this product. After giving your leather shoes a nice wipe down and letting them air out, rub a little Wonder Balsam on the outside of your shoe to help soften and moisten the leather. This balsam also adds a protective layer and subtle shine to your footwear, so no need for shoe polish afterwards.

We hope we’ve inspired you to show your old sneakers some love no matter the style or material. We all can experience that euphoric 'new shoes - new me' feeling without having to dish out for a new pair and while supporting sustainable living.