A girl just can't have too many shoes, and if they're handmade, all the better. But these new designs hitting the shops in Taiwan also check the eco-friendly box - they're made almost entirely out of recycled newspapers.

It's not an obvious choice of material for footwear, but the makers say their shoes won't end up a soggy mess if you're caught wearing them in the rain. Wu Mao-Shen, the Manager of All Black Footwear, says,

"We make each newspaper strip durable and sturdy by attaching a cotton lining to the back and adding a plastic coating to give them a shiny, waterproof finish. Then the woven top is attached to other parts like the lining."

All Black Footwear is the company set up by shoe designer Colin Lin. She says it struck her one day just how many newspapers go to waste.

"I read newspapers everyday and I find a couple of days later they get piled up almost as high as my ceiling. Can you imagine how many newspapers we produce every day in the world? And it ends up as rubbish after we read them. If piled up all together, the size could be bigger than several football stadiums. So, I told my friend that I want to use recycled newspapers to make shoes."

Lin's shoes and matching tote bags come replete with telltale Chinese characters that are printed in local newspapers, as well as the colorful photos and advertisements that accompany them.

And according to Lin, they're hot property in Taiwan as well as the United States and Europe. Since the launch late last year, the firm has sold about 4,000 pairs of shoes made of recycled newspaper. The products are very much inline with Lin's environmentally friendly approach to business, one that in recent years has led her to use fish skin and raffia as replacements for leather. She says,

"You can't imagine how many chemicals are used in the process of regular shoemaking. So, I want to use a lot of recycled and natural materials to make my shoes and use a very simple process."

The designer has been in the shoemaking business for 26 years and publicly encourages her business rivals to follow her lead and think creatively about the connection between the environment and manufacturing. Shoppers at the All Black store in Tapei were intrigued, but not all of them were convinced.

A consumer named Ailyn Chen says,

"It's a good environmentally friendly design and very skilled. I would like to buy one, but I am not sure if it is truly waterproof."

Another consumer, Emily Wu, says,

"I quite like this idea, it's unique, and I don't have to worry that someone else is wearing the same shoes as me."

The products might be green, but a labor-intensive manufacturing process means they don't come cheap. A pair of paper shoes takes three to four hours to make and sells for 100-150 U.S. dollars, while a tote bag takes up to two or three days and can go for up to 260 U.S. dollars.