In my excitement to see brand new shoes at the curb, I missed it.
I missed the terrible slash in the otherwise perfect-looking UGG boot set out for garbage with many other pairs of shoes in front of SoftMoc in Bloor West Village, Toronto.
As I stood there, jaw dropped under my mask, I was joined by two other women who shared my disbelief and shock. Why ruin perfectly good shoes when so many are in need? These shoes could have kept someone’s feet dry and warm. How wasteful!
When I expressed outrage on Facebook and Instagram later that day, Earth Day of all days, others added their voices in protest. And some shared other terrible “garbage” finds as well as horrifying insights into the practices of the retail industry and our role as consumers.
One was this CBC report on The Current in December of 2019. It talks about how returns from online shopping are often sent to landfill. Another was a Global News report from January of 2020, generated after Toronto resident Natasha McKenna said she found several clear garbage bags filled with destroyed Carter’s OshKosh items outside of Dufferin Mall.
I began my research with a call to the Bloor Street West SoftMoc store. The staff person who answered asked me to confirm I was a local resident, heard my concerns, and put me on hold to check in with their manager. They returned to say that the shoes were “defective” product that had been returned and disposed of by the manager and assistant manager. I asked for the name of the store manager and was told it was Sal. When I asked for his last name, the response was “No last name, just Sal.” And they gave me the number of SoftMoc customer care.
This time, the person who answered was very sympathetic, confirming that the practice of damaging and throwing out product on which a profit cannot be made is long-standing retail industry practice. “I’ve fought it in every place I’ve ever worked,” they said, adding, with resignation, “that’s how capitalism works. There is nothing we can do about it.” I asked to speak to someone up the line.
Next up was the Assistant “Manager of Customer Care, who assured me that “higher management” and “certain people” were looking into my concerns after my Earth Day Facebook post with the photo and my direct message to the company. I asked who, in particular, was looking into my concerns. I also asked if SoftMoc had an environmental policy, a corporate social responsibility (CSR) statement, and/or information about its management structure with names attached. They could neither give me a name nor answer my questions.
I returned to my Facebook message and asked the questions there. The response? “SoftMoc’s Customer Care team is unable to provide you with the information you have requested at this time. Thank you for contacting SoftMoc Customer Care, we wish you a wonderful rest of your evening.” A complete brush off.
But the story can’t end there. Our earth’s shared resources, including water, are used to manufacture the products we consume, and as few of those products as possible should end up back in the earth as landfill or polluting our air by incineration.
SoftMoc as “Canada’s Trusted Shoe Store” (their words) should be leaders on writing a new narrative, new industry standards. It’s no longer okay to say, “But that’s what everyone does.”
Fortunately, more and more corporate environmental leaders are emerging all the time. Cobbs Bread is one. As you’ll see in the photo, their packing indicates that unsold product is donated every day.
The salesperson at the Bloor Street West store confirmed this, sharing with me that a different charity picks up product at the end of every day.
Now, I realize that day-old bread and branded footwear and other durable goods are not the same thing thing. For the latter, there are concerns that someone might attempt to returned donated goods for a refund or that donating damaged goods could create a liability issue. There ways to address these real issues without resorting to landfill.
Enter Brands for Canada. The vision of this Canadian charity is “a sustainable world where surplus goods are purposefully used to eliminate poverty and inequality.” They receive donations of items from brand donors across Canada, including footwear, clothing, and personal care items, and distribute them through trusted social service agencies and schools.
Helen Harakas, Executive Director of Brands for Canada, assures me that the tide is turning on the practice of sending unsaleable product to landfill. “ROOTS Canada,” she says, “donated millions of dollars worth of new winter shoes, boots, and clothing this past winter during the pandemic. We worked with every store across the country. “
Because Brands for Canada understands the retail operating environment, they offer services that address companies’ concerns about donating products. These include de-labelling items so they cannot be returned to stores, fixing minor damages, and free pick up across the country, as well as providing publicity or complete anonymity.
For transparency, I know Helen Harakas through my volunteering with Rotary International. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Etobicoke. As a relevant aside, Rotary recently added supporting the environment as an area of focus for its foundation and will start accepting grant applications from clubs on July 1, 2021!
We all need to play our part. Consumers, companies, not-for-profit organizations, faith-based groups, and governments must all act and work together for the survival and health of our shared environment.
No more brush offs. No more excuses. No more resignation to the status quo. No more.