Maxwell Brothers is on the board of a nonprofit, Shape Skate Foundation, which is focused on increasing accessibility to skateboarding to empower African youth.

One of the programs enacted to fulfill this mission is a skate drive for skaters in Kenya. The nonprofit collected 372 lbs of skateboarding goods and shoes to be donated to an orphanage in Nairobi that is home to Kenya's only skatepark. The goods were all donated by skaters in the DMV region to skate shops who agreed to participate in our drive by receiving equipment.

As officer of communications and donor outreach for SHAPE, Maxwell finds this the perfect opportunity to explore Shape Skate Foundation's work from a sustainability lens, as it is an example of waste management (goods that would otherwise not be used by skaters here) as well as a circular economy (the skate goods receiving a second life in countries with less access to skateboarding equipment).

Solid waste management is one of today’s most urgent sustainability issues, as annual waste generation is estimated to increase from 2.1 billion tons in 2023 to 3.9 billion tons in 2050 (UNEP). Furthermore, the majority of this waste is produced by high-income countries, who generate roughly 34 percent of global waste while representing just 16 percent of the world’s population. The majority of the waste from these high-income countries is dry waste, such as plastic, paper, cardboard, metal, and glass, yet much of this recyclable material ends up in landfills. Much of this waste still holds value, and in particular, the skateboarding industry is presented with a unique opportunity to combat this growing global waste crisis via participating in a circular economy through the redistribution of used skate goods to emerging markets. This human-centered redistribution of goods has the potential to create a large-scale impact by improving the accessibility of skateboarding to underserved groups, which in turn will strengthen and empower these communities worldwide.

Planned obsolescence—the deliberate shortening of a product’s lifespan—is common across all industries, as in the present day and age, many products are planned to be obsolete before their time is up, costing the average consumer €50,000 over the course of their lifetime (The Sustainable Agency). In skateboarding, many skaters “retire” their skate parts while they are still usable, reflecting consumer habits on a larger scale in more economically developed countries. In contrast, many skaters in underserved areas are unable to afford entry-level boards, creating an accessibility gap for skateboarding across the world, especially for youths without disposable income.

Grassroots organizations like the SHAPE Skate Foundation are addressing this issue through community-led solutions SHAPE Skate Foundation’s Annual Kenya Skate Drive, which partnered with local skate shops in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area to collect used and new skateboarding equipment to be donated to Tum Shangilieni Mtoto, an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya that is home to Kenya’s only skatepark. Between the months of December and January, skateboarders in the DMV region donated over 372 pounds of used and new skateboarding equipment to the cause, totalling over $5,000 in estimated value. The donated equipment is made up of 73 skateboard decks, 33 sets of wheels, 16 sets of bearings, 13 pairs of trucks, 24 pairs of shoes, and more items including clothing and apparel. Additionally, Howard University Skate Club decorated 21 postcards to be sent to the children at the orphanage. The donated goods were split between the children at the orphanage and She Skates Kenya, a skateboarding organization that is focused on building a stronger and more inclusive skateboarding community in Kenya.

While traditional sustainability efforts often prioritize recycling—a process that can be energy and resource-intensive—SHAPE’s initiative focuses on product life extension through reuse and redistribution, both of which are key components of circularity, a system that minimizes waste by keeping materials in use for as long as possible. UNEP’s Global Waste Management Outlook 2024 report argues that a fully operational circular economy model could lead to a global net gain of 108.5 billion USD per year (UNEP), with SHAPE’s reuse-based Annual Kenya Skate Drive being one of many examples of value creation that it can provide.

However, these benefits extend beyond monetary gains. Skateboarding has been linked to improved mental health, resilience, and community building among youth (Pullias Center). Increasing access to skateboarding in underserved regions like Kenya supports not just recreational access, but also fosters the well-being and development of young people—an example of social circularity in action, which is a concept where goods not only recirculate materially but also promote social well-being and equity. acting as a form of social circularity.

Redistributing used but functional skateboards from established markets like the US to emerging ones like Kenya promotes sustainable waste management by extending product life and fostering resource equity across global skateboarding communities. Apart from establishing a circular economy for skate goods that would otherwise go to waste, initiatives like SHAPE’s Kenya Skate Drive advance social sustainability by empowering youth, strengthening community resilience, and fostering global solidarity, while highlighting and increasing the solidarity among skateboarders from diverse backgrounds and walks of life.

Works Cited

Corwin, Z., & Williams, N. (2020, February 26). Groundbreaking study redefines skateboarding culture. Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California. https://pulliasarchive.equitygraded.org/blog/groundbreaking-study-redefines-skateboarding-culture/

Dhanani, R. (2025, January 13). The history of planned obsolescence. The Sustainable Agency. https://thesustainableagency.com/blog/the-history-of-planned-obsolescence/

SHAPE Skate Foundation. (2026, February 10). Shape December skate drive! https://www.shapeskatefoundation.org/stories/shape-december-skate-drive!-

She Skates Kenya [@sheskates.kenya]. (n.d.). Posts [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved March 25, 2026, from https://www.instagram.com/sheskates.kenya/

Tumshangilieni Mtoto. (n.d.). Tumshangilieni Mtoto children’s school and home. https://www.tumshangilieni.org/

United Nations Environment Programme. (2024, February 28). Global waste management outlook 2024: Beyond an age of waste – Turning rubbish into a resource. https://www.unep.org/resources/global-waste-management-outlook-2024

World Bank Group. (2026). What a waste 3.0: Global snapshot of solid waste management toward circularity until 2050. https://datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_solid_waste_management.html