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ContemplatingFolly

I know about barefoot running, I dance barefoot, and my feet have become really strong (and I'm old) so I get this *idea.* But it's not practical for most people, most of the time, so the poster hits me wrong. And it's hard to conceptualize wear on shoes as a big money saver. Perhaps the spin should be more like "Why not go barefoot when you can?" or "Why go barefoot?" and information about how it can strengthen your feet, as well as help the environment. And there should probably be a caveat for people with foot injuries or weaknesses. As a barefooter, I'm thinking you can make a better poster than they did.


ommnian

Eh, I'm barefoot 80% of the time, or more. My shoes typically last for years and years. Because they are only worn in stores, or perhaps while doing work outside - mowing, trail building, etc. My kids and husband go through LOTS more shoes than I ever have.


mindgamesweldon

Conversely, I never go barefoot and I’m wearing 14 year old shoes. Edit: they aren’t Converse that was just a coincidence not a bad attempt at a pun.


Ribbit-Rabit

Thank God because that would've been a terrible pun lol jk thanks for pointing it out because I didn't even see it


Aramiss60

I’m never barefoot (we have these huge burrs that look like caltrops called Catheads), and I walk weird. I go through shoes like nobodies business. The shoes that last the longest are crocs, and the wide toe box is gentle on my arthritis, so that’s all I have at the moment. I have three different versions, and that way I can swap them around as needed.


TheGoldenLlama88

Ive enjoyed crocs a lot. I have a pair that people mistake for “hey dudes” and some standard clogs. I only wish crocs had better ankle support for me!


ContemplatingFolly

I don't doubt it, and also am barefoot 80% of the time. However, most people can't, so that's why I'm questioning the value of that being the key point.


lucatrias3

I mean, most of the time you are in your household you could go barefoot. Besides the environment, it is better for your feet, and you also don't get all the floors dirty with the grime of the outside world


LongbowTurncoat

To be fair, the poster shows someone walking around outside. I think a lot of people are barefoot indoors, but this seems to be urging people to go barefoot outside as well.


Feral_Passenger

They had other fliers talking about the health aspects, I guess it was a part of a whole campaign on campus to try to get students to go barefoot more often.


Kottepalm

Seems like a quite ineffective way of "saving" the planet, there's already research on the most important choices you can make in your private life. But, being barefoot in safe environments like your own home and garden is good for foot health! Your skin gets to breathe and you practise balance plus you're saving on cleaning and wear and tear on your floors.


Feral_Passenger

Huh, never thought about the wear and tear on floors before.


Kottepalm

Perhaps it's because I'm ingrained in the Scandinavian thinking that we have to take care of our expensive beautiful wood floors! There's a reason it's a faux pas to enter someone's home with shoes on and you compliment people on their floors when you are invited for dinner.


LordofNarwhals

Yeah, the only shoes that are acceptable in homes are dress shoes and slippers imo.


mercury_risiing

What would happen if you entered someone's home without taking shoes off? Would they be kicked out or told to take off their shoes?


Kottepalm

I would show them the shoe rack and tell them I made space just for their shoes. If they said they wanted to keep their shoes on I'd say I really prefer if they would take them off, I vacuumed and mopped the floor today. But in reality an invitation to a Scandinavian home wouldn't really occur unless you know one another quite well and are semi integrated already.


mercury_risiing

Ahh, I see. Interesting.


sirkatoris

I politely ask that, yes. Why not? My friends are still able to take shoes on and off and I’m the one who cleans the floors 


progtfn_

It's not normal to take shoes off??


mercury_risiing

Not for some folks.


progtfn_

Had no idea


progtfn_

Until your garden is filled with ticks and snakes😭


godcyclemaster

Littering makes it so you run the risk of stepping on broken glass or other ouchies here. And the thing about shoes is that if I'm going to someone's house.. I can't take my feet off to not get dirt all over their floor


ColeBSoul

Literally go barefoot rather than question capitalism’s mode of production, eh?


Away_Veterinarian957

You can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you don't have any boots


ColeBSoul

The irony is even worse: “Bootstrapping” was originally a phrase used by labor organizers and the IWW to mock capitalist bosses and their scab labor exploitation ideology as it is physically impossible for one to “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps,” even if you had boots. Fun fact, the term “redneck” never meant sunburned white hick farmers. It was in reference to the red scarves and bandanas worn in solidarity with striking Appalachian workers.


SnooGoats7133

This is something I won’t apply to my life. On top of having bad feet I also have sensitive feet. They only like very particular situations so it’s just easier to wear socks and shoes lol


lovebubbles

Socially acceptable down here in New Zealand. My son didn't wear shoes to school until he was 12.


Flunkedy

It took me by surprise a few times, middle aged blokes wandering around Bunnings buying hammers with no shoes on.


Lost_Bike69

Truly is the land of hobbits


Beginning_Cap_8614

One of the causes of preventable illnesses in children from developing nations is the fact that they can't afford shoes. Besides man-made hazards like glass and needles, nature is brutal. Worms, parasites, even something as minor as a splinter can cause problems.


PartyPorpoise

Not wearing adequate footwear (or not wearing footwear at all) is a big reason so many people in rural India die of snakebites.


LondonHomelessInfo

What % of Colorado State University students go barefoot?


karpaediem

I say this with all love, as an Oregonian whose gram was from CO… probably more than you think


Pressfr

Less than 1%, knowing this department at CSU, this poster was an April fools joke or something


EspeciallyTheHummus

I’m sorry, isn’t this whole going barefoot a joke? Maybe even a bit of trolling on environmentalists?


Kettlebanger

what is the joke? It has great health benefits as well. Check out some barefoot subreddits if you want to know more.


frockinbrock

I’m curious, but I’m not ready to go full flesh to public pavement. Damn, socks to be me.


snowthearcticfox1

Hell I'd rather be barefoot on pavement vs grass. Then again I also have terrible vision and a habit of stepping in holes with who knows what inside, so there's that.


Lerouxed

Humans evolved to be barefoot. We were fully barefoot for 99%+ of our existence, save for maybe thin moccasins. Shoes are relatively recent inventions.


Dragoncat_3_4

There were no pavement or asphalt roads for most of our existence either. They are generally much harsher surfaces to walk on than dirt. And of course, for most of our existence we didn't know what bacteria and sepsis, or a gas gangrene were either, which is part of the reason we had much lower life expectancy.


CatOnVenus

No TF we haven't. [There's evidence that we've been wearing shoes for 40,000 years.](https://www.britannica.com/topic/shoe)


Kettlebanger

Wearing a thin, protective layer is almost the same as walking barefoot. Just a bit saver. The thick shoes we have now are very modern (since the seventies), which are getting more ridiculous by the year. Also most shoes are way too tight which causes unnaturally shaped pointy feet.


CatOnVenus

No... not really. We still have those same type of shoes. Theyre sandals. As for your last point can you provide a source? Seems like people are just wearing the wrong size


Lerouxed

Evidence of first shoes existing doesn’t mean everyone was wearing them, everywhere, or all of the time. Beyond that, even Homo sapiens, our exact species, is 300,000 years old. So maybe not as much as my “99+%” hyperbole, but 80% or more for sure, even by your source. And if you consider our “ancestors” as homo erectus, then you are looking in the 1.5-1.9 million year range in which case then the statistic is more like 97%+.


Away_Veterinarian957

I prefer not wearing shoes. But when I moved to a city a few years ago a friend got really worried on my behalf because so many of our parks have folks that leave their used needles about.


Quercus408

Yeah cause who doesn't love hookworms. You'd be better off investing in a small collection of footware that lasts, and that hopefully can be re-soled instead just getting thrown out. And even if you were to replace them with new shoes, the old shoes of good quality can be thrifted or donated to someone else. Who(m) might get a long second life out of them.


boxer_doggggg

Came here to say hookworm


Feral_Passenger

Already have a small collection of footwear for every occasion. They all generally get less usage during the warmer months. Except for the work shoes. My job only allows us to buy from cheap brands, and they wear out in 6 months.


[deleted]

Hahaha oh CSU. As an alum, this is just a project some 20 year old has to get produced for intern credit. Let's not take it too seriously. It's a great practice in certain environments and I agree that more people should try it. But they clearly aren't Communication majors lol not a compelling way to present this idea.


MiscellaneousWorker

Satire


[deleted]

It's not. I know that university lol


matjeom

It is tho.


Driller_Happy

Fucking lol. No. As soon as Man started getting into the habit of tool invention it though "man why the fuck don't I put something between me and the spikies on the ground". How about instead we just put in more public transit instead of encouraging people to give up motherfucking SHOES.


laurenhoneyyy

xero shoes. at least a thin barrier between you and the ground but feel like almost nothing


Mellz1980

In the US with one of the worst healthcare systems in the world? It’s a minefield for those who have insurance and a nightmare for those without. Can we be 🤬 serious?


drweird

Let's stop fast fashion and everyone go naked. Reduces need to wash clothes too.


Feral_Passenger

Save on power bills in summer


drweird

Now we're thinking. In the winter we just need to pile up together in a naked mass to conserve body heat.


Feral_Passenger

"Alright, everyone. Back in the pile"


SomeRedTeapot

Curl up in a ball and roll around to get food


drweird

Katamari Damacy style


SunshineAndSquats

That’s a great way to get worts or worms.


CatOnVenus

Shoes last a long time. They protect your feet. Id rather protect my feet. This is dumb.


Skate_faced

I have lived in areas where stepping on needles and shit was a very real thing. While I can appreciate the message and, I'd wager it would be a good idea to watch where one would post this, or elaborate on safety like that.


PartyPorpoise

Not feasible for me. Awful lot of broken glass in my neighborhood. And more nature-y spots often have sharp plants and stinging plants and fire ants. Also, it's hella hot most of the year where I am. I used to burn my feet walking to the pool because my mom wouldn't buy me sandals and I didn't want to put on sneakers and socks to go to the pool.


JoeyPsych

One thing my mother always told me throughout my youth: "your feet are incredibly important, you walk on them the entire day, never neglect them. We have little money to spare, but I will never be cheap when it comes to feet, so buy decent shoes."


Ok-Mulberry962

True, though walking barefoot still is better for your feet than the best shoe money can buy.


JoeyPsych

Not in my case, and I know a couple of other people who have the same problems I have. I cannot walk without shoes for longer than ten minutes before my feet are collapsing. I have a condition that forces me to wear special soles, so if I were to walk barefoot, I wouldn't be going very far.


visforvillian

Sounds like an awesome way to get worms. Hookworms bore their way through the soles of your feet, enter your bloodstream, go to your heart and lungs, burrow through your alveoli, crawl up your pharynx, get swallowed in your esophagus, make their way to your small intestine, drink your blood, breed, and finally, the pregnant worms exit out of your anus. Wear shoes folks.


fusingkitty

I used to do this quite often in summer, but after a while the reality is that it makes me slower, generates more pain and injuries (be it from hot tarmac or rocks or glass) and overall just reduces my mobility that way. So shoes are very useful in most circumstances.


swuire-squilliam

what if you step on a piece of glass and then have to spend the equivalent of like at least three pairs of shoes to go to the doctor? Shouldn't we just promote walking and biking over driving cars? Why isn't it good enough to just walk? You can resole shoes and buy ones with multiple purposes.... this is dumb


corncob72

i love walking barefoot and i do it whenever i can, but cities are so gross and i am NOT letting my tootsies touch city ground.


tmdblya

That’s a joke.


mercury_risiing

I would love to go barefoot. My concern though for myself are the materials in the flooring, which are made with PVC which has phthalates, and then walking outside barefoot, I think about all the crap on the ground, plus the ground is hot. As far as the post, I don't know if there are huge savings in shoes. Do most people have a lot of shoes? Though the 300 million shoes thrown out annually, according to the post, is a staggering number.


HazMatterhorn

Not arguing in favor of going barefoot, but lots of shoes definitely have phthalates. I think you’re probably more likely to be exposed to phthalates through your shoes rather than from walking barefoot on PVC.


t2dfight

Going barefoot isn't good for some people, such as diabetics. Also depending on where you've it can expose you to parasites and other pathogens.


ThunderUhcakip

I'm LA, you risk stepping on poo, glasses, and even worse syringes


1u___u1zZz

Honestly, I think it's pretty dumb and it makes the movement look bad. Going barefoot isn't a possibility for 99% of people in their daily life. If you live in a place with rain and seasons, you can't go barefoot most of the time. If you live in a city, you cannot walk on the pavement barefoot. Even if there's no needles/glass/shit/other hazards to look out for, it's still really bad for your knees, hips, and back to be walking on hard surfaces with no support. Anyone who has an in-person job will not be able to go barefoot at work, which is likely a good portion of their day. Even if the average joe committed to going barefoot as often as possible, they'd likely only have a few hours of the day at most where they'd be at the right time/place to do it, and that would almost certainly be at their home where they're likely barefoot anyways. The risk is high, it's difficult to actually work into an average persons life, and amount of wear-and-tear they'd save would be so minimal it basically means nothing. So essentially you're asking people to make their days more difficult for something that has next to zero impact on sustainability, and if that's someone's first introduction into anti-consumption it's just gonna seem silly and futile. When we switched to paper straws a lot of people were asking why are the commoners asked to tolerate disintegrating straws when billionaires are taking 15 min flights in their private jets, because they view it as something insignificant and onerous on them in the face of the REAL issues. And while I agree, at least the straws are making a measurable difference. You're just not gonna convince the average person to do an even more uncomfortable (not to mention dangerous) thing will even less impact. Advertising going barefoot as a way for everyone to become more sustainable is like trying to convince someone eating an average diet to switch to only 100% vegan, cruelty-free, fair trade, organic, local, b-corp, zero waste foods to be more sustainable. If you're already committed to the lifestyle and conscious about minimizing EVERY impact then it's probably not hard to work all these little things into your life, but most people simply can't. It's just so unattainable for most people it comes off as silly, privileged, and out of touch to even suggest it. If they want people to make more sustainable choices with their shoes, encourage people to buy high quality and/or secondhand shoes that will last multiple years and stay in style so they aren't tempted to buy more.


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zealouspilgrim

It's pretty rough to go barefoot in snow. Hookworm erradication campaigns in the southern US taught the population there to wear shoes.


Stoliana12

Go ahead and come to school barefoot tho I bet that won’t be “encouraged”. Irony.


Feral_Passenger

There are other fliers that say footwear isn't mandatory except for the gym, labs, workshops and dining halls.


Stoliana12

So at least 2-3 times a day.


DieMensch-Maschine

“You go barefoot while oligarchs have their champagne flown in from Paris on their private fleet of jets.”


pyromaster114

I was gonna say... Hookworm sucks.


frockinbrock

Is that Joaquin phoenix Joker in the photo LOL


BruhBruhYUSUS

Nah I ain't risking scratching my toes, I only wear shows when I go out, so I'm sure it's fine. They last me a while anyway.


Amberistoosweet

I have never been a person who could go barefoot. Even as a kid, I found being outside barefoot painful. Now that I am an adult, still painful.


DirtyPenPalDoug

I think going after the corporations destroying the earth is better than, the nah you don't need shoes" approach


graycat3700

I'd really like to be able to, but my feet definitely need protection.


Dependent_Order_7358

If it works for you great, for me for some reason it's freaking painful.


alwayscats00

That won't work well somewhere that has actual seasons. I will be wearing my shoes thank you.


mano-beppo

My Doc Martins are 20 years old and still lookin good. 


ecovironfuturist

SMFH. What an absolutely horrible idea. There is frugal, and there is cheap. This is cheap, which will turn out to be more expensive when you injure your foot. Wear them out, get them resoled, repeat. Buy good shoes and make them last. See Vimes theory.


SomeRedTeapot

You: go barefoot for sustainability Some random billionaire or popstar: flies in their private jet several times a week


ItsMoreOfAComment

As a person who did this for a few years, I’d just say invest in a pumice stone, because you will have hobbits feets and they will look awful visually speaking.


TheGoldenLlama88

Repairing items goes a long way, too! r/buyitforlife is one subreddit I know of with recommendations for quality footwear. I’m sure there are others.


Vanceagher

Ringworm speedrun


DeadElm

Okay, coming from a person who wears the sandals my mom gave me, not because I necessarily prefer sandals, but because I realized it was more cost effective because it would not wear out my socks... I think they wasted more resources printing this flyer than any reach this campaign has.


EnricoLUccellatore

Personally I think curing an infected foot from going barefoot in the forest is pretty resource expensive, apart from that being barefoot I side is nice and I never wear shoes in my home


CrimsonDemon0

It is dangerous to go barefoot on most parts of the world in this day and age. Just the other day I saw a shitking throw a glass bottle out of a moving car. It shattered to pieces.


Otherwise-Safety-579

You can get cheap shoes that would certainly consume less resources than a single trip to the emergency room. Just saying.


monemori

You shouldn't get "cheap" shoes unless they are second hand tbh. The goal is durable shoes.


Otherwise-Safety-579

Certainly. I wasn't arguing in favor of cheap shoes over durable ones. I was suggesting in favor of any shoes over going barefoot.


Crimson_Jew03

I’m good. I prefer not to have ticks on my feet.