With the summers already in tow, footwear is something that many of us don't bother much about. As long as we have a couple of fancy pairs for the workplace and a few flip-on's for home, life seems okay. But footwear is often a much neglected part of hygiene as well as environment.

According to a study by the Soles4Souls.org, a environment-oriented solutions providing organisation, human beings throw away nearly 700, 000 tons of apparel and footwear in landfills annually. Of this, nearly 300 million are simply shoes. Samaritan's Feet International, another such organization, have come up with shocking data as well. According to them "two billion people worldwide are currently plagued with parasitic diseases that could be prevented by wearing shoes".

With sustainability, environment protection and consumer usability as key factors, industrial designer- Steve Boynton from Utah has come up with a unique footwear called as EarthBaked.

His project, up on Kickstarter for finance, is a biodegradable shoe made up wool and natural rubber. These are naturally sustainable materials with excellent anti-microbial qualities as well. It not only helps the wearer by providing a good sole, thus taking care of comfort and protection but is absolutely friendly to the soil on disposal.

He has kept the design simple and useful to allow mass production to happen in a cost effective manner. All one needs is a durable industrial sewing machine, scissors, a pattern and the materials to start off with. Being an avid cyclist, Steve looked to come up with a pair of shoes that are easily foldable and can be easily stuffed into a backpack or even a purse.

"As a designer, statistics like this make me cringe and I didn’t want to create another pair of shoes that would contribute to environmental pollution. I've been riding my bike to work for years and hate cramming all my "stuff " into a backpack.  My footwear was always the bulkiest object. So I set out to create a lightweight, easy-to-pack shoe that gives back to the earth at the end of its life. What started with a selfish motivation has grown into a passion and desire to contribute in a positive way to our environment and society"

Looking in the long shot, this shoe could be a source of livelihood for those looking to start their own small business. The investment is minimal and the product is workable and environment friendly as well.

If you believe in the cause of environment or like Steve's footwear idea that could flounder a business all of its own, you can support his Kickstarter campaign.

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