Have You Seen This
Ad Campaign?

'When I’m feeling bright “BUY SHOES”, When I’m feeling down “BUY SHOES”, “BUY SHOES”, “BUY SHOES”, Before going to the ball “BUY SHOES”, after we are through “BUY SHOES”, When the red rainstorm is up “BUY SHOES”, When things are becoming so bad “BUY SHOES”, “BUY SHOES”, After coming down with the flu “BUY SHOES”, When I’m so exhausted “BUY SHOES”, “BUY SHOES”, after taking off a few pounds “BUY SHOES”, I buy shoes when I want to “BUY SHOES”, When I don't feel like buying shoes, I still “BUY SHOES”! ......'

Every hour that passes, an average of 2.68 million pairs of shoes are produced globally.

If the goal is to provide every person in the world with one pair of shoes, it would take only 125 days. So, who buys the shoes manufactured in the remaining 240 days of the year, and where do they ultimately end up?

During beach cleanups in Hong Kong, shoes are often found washed ashore.

They are less common than popular marine debris like plastic bottles, food packaging, or cigarette butts, but their presence often evokes a sense of temporal and spatial dislocation.

For instance, discovering snow boots on a sweltering summer beach feels like encountering a wayward Arctic traveller. Among the jumble of rocks, a four-inch platform shoe has been spotted, reminiscent of a modern Cinderella tale — except the prince never found the shoe again. Then there are running shoes encrusted with barnacles, as if proclaiming they’ve trekked thousands of miles and crossed oceans to arrive here...

For years, Ocean Conservancy has coordinated global beach cleanup efforts, and each year, its cleanup report highlights the "weirdest" piece of marine debris.

In 2022, an “ice skate” found on the equatorial shores of Indonesia was crowned the most peculiar item.

Where do the shoes littering beaches come from, and where do they end up? These questions are often overlooked. Even in Ocean Conservancy’s marine debris records, "shoes" had long been absent as a distinct category — until a change occurred in 2022.

In 2022, shoes emerged from the broader category of "clothing and footwear" to become a standalone item in Ocean Conservancy’s marine debris records.

Surprisingly, they ranked as the fifth most common type of beach cleanup litter in Africa, surpassed only by cigarette butts, plastic bottles, plastic food packaging, masks, and medical gloves.

By 2023, shoes didn’t make the global top ten but were close behind, ranking as the 11th most common type of marine debris.

It’s time to investigate the journey of shoes —
where they come from and where they go.