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Writer's pictureShoe Defenders

Composting: Why it Matters

When I was growing up in the 1980’s, my parents had a compositing system in the back yard. My dad was a welder and my mom, a former bookkeeper, stayed at home because daycare and the flexibility needed to raise two children cost more than she would earn as a bookkeeper.

Biodegradable shoe deodorizers
Shoe Defenders are made from biodegradable components

In fact, mom kept meticulous track of every penny spent. We had to pay for each trash bag we took to our local landfill, and since she cooked every meal from scratch, we had about double the food scrap waste as we did any other solid waste. So composting was not something she did for the environment, but for the household coffers.


Benefits of Composting

Every year we fill enough garbage trucks to form a line that would stretch from the earth, halfway to the moon. Natural resources are extracted from the earth to make the products that make our life experiences better and most of it is put into a landfill that is eventually covered by soil with the contents being essentially mummified and unusable for decades and even centuries.


Composting still resonates with me today, but on a level of respect for our environment. Think about it. We take from the earth, say cotton, make it into a product that improves our lives, like clothing, and then when its lifespan is over, we give it back to the earth in the form of nutrients, such as compost solids or even tea that:

  • Enriches soil, helping retain moisture and suppress plant diseases and pests.

  • Reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.

  • Encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to create humus, a rich nutrient-filled material.

  • Reduces methane emissions from landfills and lowers your carbon footprint.

Our Contribution to Sustainability

Our goal is to reduce the traditional trash cycle however possible, while still making a quality product that improves your daily olfactory experience. We source as many components as possible from earth based materials. Our fabrics are cotton printed with eco-friendly inks. Our string is lightly waxed cotton. The interior patented technology includes clays infused with essential oils and a biodegradable carrier fluid that helps the product last longer, which reduces how many of these you need to buy to just one a year.


We don’t carry a compostable certification yet as we are small company. We spoke with the Biodegradable Products Institute (https://www.bpiworld.org) and one of the most important aspects is to educate each municipal composting facility regarding our products so that when they see it in the composting waste stream, they know it is compostable. We currently aren’t generating enough product to warrant this, but we have plans to do so as you all help us grow.


You can Help too!

We encourage all to follow nature’s lead and compost whenever possible. Take advantage of municipal composting programs in your area. If you’re feeling especially motivated, you can try out composting in your backyard. For basics visit: https://www.naturespath.com/en-us/blog/the-basics-of-composting/

Biodegradable shoe deodorizers for sustainable earth
Give back what you take and Mother Earth will take care of us.

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