by mathilde.bogen -

15 | Mind Map & Discussion 2

In this blogpost I discuss the last two main areas of my mind map and some of the main problems within the areas.

INDUSTRY

One of the main problems when it comes to the industry aspect is greenwashing. With the growing awareness around sustainability in the world it is more important than ever for brands to have a sustainable image, but how genuine they are can vary greatly. Some brands might come off as being environmentally friendly by for example using recycled materials or vegan leather, but then they don’t share the fact that they use a lot of toxic chemicals in the production. Brands choose wisely what information they want to share and only shares what they will benefit from, so there is still a big lack of openness in the industry. It is therefore extremely difficult for consumers to navigate this market, where true intentions vary widely.

Room for improvement: Make it easier for consumers to identify which brands are truly environmentally friendly and not just greenwashing.

CONSUMER HABITS

Consumer habits is a very broad area and is very similar, if not the same as consumption, so those two areas could have been just one. There are many problems regarding consumer habits, and they are tightly connected. One of the biggest problems is overconsumption. 23 billion pairs of shoes are made every year and 22 billion are thrown into landfill (Dennis, 2022). Trends and fast fashion drive us to buy more shoes than we need and we buy new shoes even though we often have shoes that are in perfectly good condition. Another issue might be that many of us don’t know how to properly care for our shoes once they show signs of wear. There is a lack of knowledge when it comes to what parts of a shoe that can be repaired, and that problem might be connected to the fact that cobblers are not visible in todays society. Somehow, cobblers seem to belong in the past. While there are many DIY repair kits available, they are usually limited in what they can fix.

Room for improvement: Make people get a stronger relationship to their shoes so that they care more for them, don’t want to replace them and want to repair them when needed.

🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞 👟 🥾 🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞 👟 🥾 🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞 👟 🥾 🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞

REFERENCES

by mathilde.bogen -

14 | Mind Map & Discussion 1

In this blogpost I discuss the first two main areas of my mind map and some of the main problems within the areas.

MATERIALS

The big amount of different materials used in shoes are what makes the shoes difficult to recycle, but also difficult to produce sustainably. It can be challenging for consumers to understand what kind of materials they should look for if they want to choose a better option for the environment. It is also important to take in consideration the chemicals used in the production of the shoes. There are instances where vegan leather used in shoe production involves specific toxic chemicals. Even if a product appears to be more environmentally friendly due to the materials used, the overall production process of the shoe may not fulfill the promise of being a greener choice. The effects of the chosen materials must also be compared. While leather is not environmentally friendly, leather shoes tend to have a long lifespan.

Room for improvement: Make it easier for consumers to understand what kind of shoes are more sustainable.

CONSUMPTION

With the growing awareness around sustainability it has become more common to buy second hand clothing, but it is not as common to buy second hand shoes. People might think it is a bit more difficult to buy used shoes because of various reasons. First off, the hygiene aspect is a bit different from used clothing. Some might find it less appealing to buy used shoes then to buy used clothes. Secondly, it might be more difficult to know the condition of used shoes when you can’t speak to the former user and wear and tear might not be immediately visible. Some types of shoes, due to lighter usage, might be easier to buy second-hand than others. Additionally, people might be sceptical beacuse they think that used shoes are already shaped to the previous owner’s feet, which might make them less comfortable for the new owner. There might be a difference between peoples thoughts of buying used shoes from private people through second hand apps for example compared to buying used shoes from a second hand store. When buying from a private seller, you can often get more detailed information about the condition of the shoes and learn more about the previous owner, which can help reduce some concerns.

Room for improvement: Provide more product information about second hand shoes.

🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞 👟 🥾 🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞 👟 🥾 🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞 👟 🥾 🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞

by mathilde.bogen -

13 | Challenges & Mind Map

I’ve been feeling somewhat stuck with my project and the topic I’m working on. It’s challenging to make progress because I don’t know which direction to take. There are many aspects and different problems to consider, and eventually, I’ll need to decide where to focus my efforts.

I have also been thinking a lot about a dilemma that I don’t know how to solve. One of my goals is to encourage people to maximize the use of their shoes. However, I’ve been hesitant because understanding the full potential of shoes can be challenging and there are many aspects to consider. It can be challenging to recommend extended use, as wearing shoes for too long might lead to health issues, such as stress injuries. Feet are different from each other and will therefore put pressure on different parts of a shoe. Some people will also wear out a shoe much faster than other people. The encouragement of people maximizing the use of their shoes must therefore be somehow personalized. People will in many cases notice when a shoe is worn out since it is visible on the physical part of the shoe and then it is natural to do something about it, but it might not be like this in all cases.

Because of these obstacles that I have met in my prosess I decided to sit down and create a mind map to organize and get a better mental model of the project. This way I could sort the different problems of the different main areas and how they are related. This helped me get a clearer picture of the topic so that the way forward can be easier. Below is a picture of the mind map, and I will write a bit more about the opportunities in each of the sections in the next blog post.

🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞 👟 🥾 🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞 👟 🥾 🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞 👟 🥾 🩴 🥿 👠 👡 👢 👞