Empty Your Closets Each family member lines up his or her shoes in a long hallway or large room (if space becomes an issue, decamp to the driveway), grouping "like" pairs: flip-flops with flip-flops, pumps with pumps, sneakers with sneakers.
Trim the Fat Next, says Walsh, place "any shoes you don't like, that don't fit, or that you haven't worn in six months" into a box marked "donate." Exceptions—like those almost-new hiking boots you haven't worn in years but swear you'll take camping this spring—must be put to a vote.
Find Your Target Using a tape measure, determine how many pairs of shoes each person's closet can hold, either on the floor—where a pair requires about eight inches—or on existing shoe racks.
Selectively Reduce Each person donates one pair from each category (sandals, running shoes, etc.) until his or her target is reached. Group input is encouraged.
Get rid of it for good: Soles4Souls has distributed more than 19 million pairs of shoes in 127 countries; to find a location near you that accepts donations, visit Soles4Souls.org.
