We’ve all heard about “going green” - doing things that are good for the earth, recycling, reusing and helping avoid wasting precious resources. Wouldn’t it be nice to find an easy way to add to your list of good things to do, especially if it helps you and your family clean up and de-clutter your house? Well, let your feet do their part! It’s time to stop saving or throwing away your old, overused athletic shoes. Yes, there’s a way to turn in your workout shoes and allow them to be ground up and reused.
Nike has a program called Reuse-a-shoe. It’s their way to stop the millions of pairs of athletic shoes from piling up in our landfills. There is a lot these shoes can do once you are done wearing them. Since 1993 (Nike’s longest-running environmental program), worn-out athletic are collected, processed and recycled into material used to make sports and playing surfaces for basketball & tennis courts, athletic fields, running tracks and playgrounds.
Since Reuse-A-Shoe began, more than 20 million pairs of athletic shoes have been recycled and contributed to more than 250 sport surfaces.
Reuse-A-Shoe collects worn-out athletic shoes of any brand from a variety of sources. Some are the typical post-consumer shoes; some are shoes that have been returned from retailers or counterfeit “knock-offs” that have been confiscated. In addition, scraps from the manufacturing of new Nike footwear are collected and recycled.
If you are ready to toss some used athletic shoes or start a collection of shoes at your work or school, check out the collection site locater web page. There may be a Nike Store, athletic club or school/college near you that’s already a collection site. If not, check with Nike to learn how you can become a collection site for going green from your feet up!
Find out more about the program at Reuse-a-Shoe.
Alice Lockridge,
MS Phys Ed
Pro-Fit