TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — April is Earth Month, a time that might get a lot of us thinking about how to reduce the amount of garbage we send to landfills. That can begin with a simple change of behavior: Buy less and re-use what you already have.
An easy place to start is by looking at your footwear. Americans create a large amount of waste each year discarding old clothes and shoes. So I thought I'd try a job that helps people breathe new life into the shoes they already have.
My workday as a cobbler at Alpine Boot and Shoe Repair started right away—they put me straight to work.
We got started nailing shoes—which I didn't even know was a thing.
It's done by machine. Learning how to operate the equipment was a task in and of itself.
I think I got the hang of it pretty quickly. Too quickly maybe—just as I started 'nailing' it, it was time to moved onto a new task and new machine.
I was handed a pair of heels to trim, then polish.
I learned a big part of this job is taking an old shoe and making it new again. Seeing the shoes I was working on come back to life was like doing a magic trick.
A little extra polish and stain, and I couldn't believe it:
If you couldn't tell, this was a job that suited me—and Alpine Boot and Shoe Repair thought so too! I'm hired.
If you have a job you want me to try, send me an email at hiringheidi@kgun9.com.
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Heidi Alagha is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. Heidi spent 5 years as the morning anchor in Waco where she was named the best anchor team by the Texas Associated Press. Share your story ideas and important issues with Heidi by emailing heidi.alagha@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.