Planet Pointe

Planet Pointe is a non-profit organization that up-cycles ballet dancers’ “dead” pointe shoes. Dancers donate their old shoes and Planet Pointe creates pouches and bags out of the satin materials. 

Planet Pointe has 15 drop-off locations at dance studios and stores around the United States. Dancers can donate their used pointe shoes at these locations, or send them in the mail. There are currently 35 youth volunteers from around the country who are also dancers. After receiving the donations, Planet Pointe deconstructs the pointe shoes, and uses the outer satin layer to create bags and pouches. They also have a TikTok account where they show this process and give tutorials on how to do it yourself. 

Planet Pointe’s mission is to introduce sustainability into the dance world. Their tagline is “Sustainability en Pointe.” Ballet students often go through multiple pairs of pointe shoes a month, and professional dancers can go through a pair of shoes per day! After the shoes are deemed to be “dead” (meaning they are so broken down, they are no longer safe to wear), they usually become waste. Planet Pointe is combating this one pair of donated shoes at a time. To date, Planet Pointe has received over 2,000 pairs of pointe shoes! All of their proceeds go towards other non-profit organizations. 

I am personally inspired by Planet Pointe as a former ballet dancer because of their innovation and creativity to grow this idea of giving new life to dead pointe shoes. 

All images sourced from Planet Pointe’s website and TikTok