Hundreds of individual pieces and little strips of tape. Rope threading through rivets like laces through a shoe. Unflinching dedication to the design principles of the Golden Ratio, no matter the cost in time or sleep deprivation.
This was the price of creation for the designers of the first shoe recycling box on campus.
Their task was to create a container that would capture the athletic aesthetic of the upcoming Olympic Trials while remaining easily dismantlable and recyclable. It would be used by A Step in the Right Direction, a recycling drive put on by MBA students from the Lundquist College of Business’ Center for Sustainable Business Practices and the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center.@@https://www.facebook.com/AStepintheRightDirection.UOAthleticShoeRecycling@@
According to Blake Scott,@@http://uoregon.edu/findpeople/person/Blake*Scott@@ one of the two designers of the collection box, the cost was worth it. Not only was it a chance to help encourage sustainability in the campus community, but it was a chance to flex some creative muscle.
“They came to us and said, ‘We want a box … a box that holds a lot of shoes,’” Scott said, referring to Lillis Business Complex officials who approached them on behalf of A Step in the Right Direction. “We really had a lot of freedom around the scope of what they wanted us to do.”
His team consisted of only himself and his fiancée Rachel Simrell —@@http://www.rachelsimrell.com/design/@@ both aspiring architects. Together, they set out to create a shoe collection box that would not only match the requirements of the drive, but would also be a work of art in its own right.
So far, the design seems to be proving successful. At last count, with over 900 shoes being deposited in the original box and among other collection boxes around campus, the goal of 2,012 shoes by the end of the Olympic Trials will likely be met, said A Step in the Right Direction program manager Katrina Galas.@@http://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinagalas@@
“I think the Trials are going to be a great finish line for this project,” Galas said, explaining there will be boxes present on Hayward Field during the Olympic Trials. “People see us and say, ‘Oh, I have so many (shoes) at home, I wish I knew this was going on … We’re hoping that this way, people will know to bring them and where to bring them.”
Once collected, the shoes are sorted based on their condition. Intact shoes are sent to the Portland-based organization Hope4Hoopers and re-distributed to children who can’t afford their own. Worn-out shoes are sent to the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe@@http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/@@ program to be ground up and used in sports equipment, playground floors and other materials.
After the Olympic Trials, at least some of the collection boxes will remain on campus indefinitely. The boxes will be located at the main entrances of Hayward Field from June 22-July 1.
“We definitely don’t want this to be a one-time thing,” Galas said.