How to recycle your sneakers (crossposted)
Okay, I promised Kevin I would research the matter of how to go about recycling sneakers, since we have so many and we hate to just put them in the trash, but they're not really nice enough for a thrift store to resell.
I knew I'd heard about this at some point -- it's the Nike Corporation that recycles them (which makes sense, really) through their Reuse-a-Shoe program. They take the athletic shoes and turn them into playground equipment and stuff, which is then donated to different organizations. Cool, right?
Only place in Pennsylvania that takes them is in Philadelphia. And in fact, most states don't have a dropoff point at all. For shame.
I'm going to write to the Allentown Recycling Center and encourage them to sign on for the shoe recycling program, but in the meantime, I'm going to mail them my own. I'm posting about this because I want the rest of LJ to know about it. There's an interactive map on the site where you can find dropoff points in different states; they also have the program going in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. If there's no dropoff point convenient to you and you'd like to have your old sneakers turned into something useful for kids, mail them to:
Nike Recycling Center
c/o Reuse-a-Shoe
26755 Southwest 95th Avenue
Wilsonville, OR 97070
PLEASE NOTE: They only take sneakers ("athletic shoes"), and they only want sneakers that have no metal content at all. No cleats, no metal eyelets, etc. Hope at least a few of you find this information helpful. :)
Happy Valentine's Day!
I knew I'd heard about this at some point -- it's the Nike Corporation that recycles them (which makes sense, really) through their Reuse-a-Shoe program. They take the athletic shoes and turn them into playground equipment and stuff, which is then donated to different organizations. Cool, right?
Only place in Pennsylvania that takes them is in Philadelphia. And in fact, most states don't have a dropoff point at all. For shame.
I'm going to write to the Allentown Recycling Center and encourage them to sign on for the shoe recycling program, but in the meantime, I'm going to mail them my own. I'm posting about this because I want the rest of LJ to know about it. There's an interactive map on the site where you can find dropoff points in different states; they also have the program going in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan. If there's no dropoff point convenient to you and you'd like to have your old sneakers turned into something useful for kids, mail them to:
Nike Recycling Center
c/o Reuse-a-Shoe
26755 Southwest 95th Avenue
Wilsonville, OR 97070
PLEASE NOTE: They only take sneakers ("athletic shoes"), and they only want sneakers that have no metal content at all. No cleats, no metal eyelets, etc. Hope at least a few of you find this information helpful. :)
Happy Valentine's Day!