Monday, November 9, 2009

A second life for my running shoes

Tonight I dropped off my old running shoes at a Nike store in L.A. to have them recycled. This is something I've been meaning to do since I found out about Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program and blogged about it (that post is here). Nike recycles the rubber, foam and fabric in running shoes to make new athletic surfaces like tracks, basketball courts and playgrounds. And they take any brand, not just Nikes.

For months my dirty Adidas running shoes have been in my trunk, waiting to be put to better use. Even though I work down the street from the Nike store at The Grove, walking there after a long day at work was basically the last thing I wanted to do. But today, my day off, I had to go to work for a few hours so when I got done at 6 I decided to finally drop them off to avoid traffic (Getting stuck in rush hour traffic on my day off? No way.).

It was super easy. They have a bin in the back of the store where you drop off your shoes. I was happy to see it was about two-thirds full.

This is the only shoe recycling program I know of, which is surprising since it's such a cool idea. So next time you're feeling the ground beneath your feet when you run and you know it's time to get rid of your shoes, instead of sending them to a landfill, you can donate them to a good cause. And if you don't live or work near a Nike store like I do, you can give your shoes to me and I'll drop them off when it's time to recycle my current running shoes. Just as long as they don't stink up my car because they might be there for a few months!

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