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Saturday, October 09, 2004

Recycle your tennis shoes.

Whether you call them tennis shoes, runners, sneakers, or gym shoes, your old ones can be recycled. Just send old athletic shoes (any brand) to

Nike Recycling Center
c/o Reuse A Shoe
26755 SW 95th Avenue
Wilsonville, OR 97070

You old shoes will be ground up to make surfaces for tracks, basketball courts and the like for underserved communities. They won't end up in landfills (often in those same communities). For more information, visit Nike Reuse-A-Shoe.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Please note that you will not receive free shoes in exchange for recycled shoes. See http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/weekly/aa032598.htm for more information. Or call Nike at 1-800-352-6453 (option #3).

Karama said...

For new or nearly-new running shoes, consider donation to One World Running. (Thanks Curtis and Jennifer!)

Anonymous said...

They could be nice enough to pay for postage.

Anonymous said...

You guys should checkout the shoes that came out from Nike with Ipod applications. Nike and Apple coming together is a perfect combination and if this can motivate a healthier lifestyle than more power to them.

Anonymous said...

http://elgranvitoko.blogspot.com

Karama said...

Please vote for So What Can I Do for the 2009 Black Web Award for Most Original Blog. Visit http://www.blacktvonline.com/most-original-blog and vote as often as you like before October 5, 2008. Anyone can vote and there's no need to register to do so. Thanks!

connie said...

It is not practical for individuals to mail tennis shoes to Oregon. It would be really great if Nike could set up recycling centers in communities around the U.S. I live in St. Louis and teach grade school. Last year we did a huge recycling unit around Earth Day.I would have loved to have the kids all collect old tennis shoes but I certainly could not afford to then mail them to Oregon!

Karama said...

Hi Connie,

I usually just send my family's shoes to Oregon, but you're right, for a large recycling project, the shipping costs are prohibitive. You may want to check with your local running store. Many offer recycling programs of their own and some may be willing to partner with our school. Actually, my husband always takes his old shoes to a local running store.

Best wishes to you and your students. Thanks for visiting So What Can I Do, Connie. Please come again soon, and spread the word.

Anonymous said...

first, thanks sowhatcanido for having this info for me. you made it very easy for me to send my shoes somewhere worthwhile. in response to the folks who don't want to mail the shoes, i used the "library mail" option and paid $2.45. this was worth not having to drive an extra errand to then drop off. i have a little kitchen scale to weigh the package, then i go to usps.com, figured out the cheapest option, smacked some stamps on and put it in my mailbox. done.

Karama said...

I'm glad this worked for you, Samantha! Thanks for reading and for sharing your story. Please come by again soon, and spread the word!

KM said...

From what Samantha said, I understand you can use library mail to send your tennis shoes. But that just seems strange -- isn't library mail, media, not tennis shoes?

Anonymous said...

Someone noted they should do collection in other states. I found this from National Recycle Coalition (NRC) where Nike is working with NRC programs:
http://www.nrc-recycle.org/reuseashoe.aspx
Check out your city or if you want to get involved to set up a collection program.
Like seeing the effort.