Shoeboxes

The other day, when I was on the market for a new pair of walking shoes, I noticed something. Shoes are a classic case of overpackaging! The box and tissue paper are used excessively. It is one thing if people actually keep all their shoeboxes and use it as a storage container, but if not, I can only imagine all the trees and organochlorines used to bleach the paper to make the boxes and paper.

My assumed rationale behind this amount of packaging: To protect the shoes, to make it easy to find shoes in a back room, to make it easy to ship and organize shoes.

Alternative considerations: I have several:

1) Shipping shoes in boxes adds a lot of volume and weight - why not ship them in cloth bags?
2) If a box must be kept, making sure that it's made out of post-consumer waste recycled paper - I am certain that consumer would not mind if their tissue paper or shoeboxes were brown instead of glistening white.
3) Merchandising shoes on hooks for self-serve purposes such as with flipflops, and adding shoe sizes in large, bold numbers on the heel section of the insole.
4) Again if the box must be kept, adding handles to the box so it can be transported out of the store without a bag.

Contact the head offices of your favourite shoe companies and make these suggestions.