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Summary A young Chinese designer said that old newspapers can be recycled into fashionable shoes.
Twenty-seven-year-old Yang Guang, a university student from Nanjing city in the eastern province of Jiangsu, is now not only doing brisk business in China, but is also selling in the US and Europe.Inspired by his grandmother, who used to weave sandals out of straw, Yang started his production three years ago, but only sold his first pair of newspaper shoes last April. From humble beginnings, Yang now runs a factory with more than 200 workers, most of them female farmers from the surrounding countryside.Yang says newspaper is easy to weave, and above all, is free. To make a pair, workers first cut newspaper into thin strips, then fold them two or three times to make strong pieces which they weave into sheets of material.Gum is applied to the surface of material to make it waterproof, and a heeled or flat sole is attached to the bottom.At present, Yangs factory is able to produce an average of 5,000 pairs of newspaper shoes a month, all made to order.They sell for between 150 to 200 yuan in China, but can go for as much as 150 US dollars abroad, Yang said.But as dealers take most of the revenue, Yang only makes a net profit of around $3,000 a month, getting on average just four or five yuan per pair.But Yang said he is confident of improved sales as people decide that environment-friendly is trendy. The uniqueness of each handmade pair has also made them popular with women looking for something that stands out from the usual shoes mass-produced in factories.With an increasing number of orders from all over the world, Yang is now looking to expand his business to include bags and other products made from recycled newspaper.
