If the shoe fits, wear it. If it doesn’t? Recycle it.
Nike and the National Recycling Coalition have launched a new campaign asking people to recycle their old athletic footwear. The program, called “Reuse-A-Shoe,” aims to collect more than 5,000 pairs of used athletic shoes from each of the 32 participating communities across the country.
After the shoes are recycled, they are ground into Nike Grind material, which is used in Autzen Stadium’s turf. The Nike Grind will also be used in the future to create other various soccer fields, playgrounds and football field turf. Students can drop off their used shoes in the EMU near the Ticket Office, or at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center.
While Nike has been recycling shoes since 1993, this is the first year Nike has sponsored a nationwide search for old footwear.
Jill Zinger, who works for the Nike corporate responsibility communications office, said the partnership with NRC is the first time in the Reuse-A-Shoe program history that Nike has gone beyond customers and asked communities for help. Zinger added she is hoping people will start recycling shoes in the same way they recycle newspapers and cans.
In Eugene, NRC recruited the help of BRING Recycling, Lane County Waste Management, the University Athletic Department and Campus Recycling. According to Kate Krebs, the executive director of NRC, Eugene is unique because of the partnerships between the government, the recycling program and the University.
“There is a real, wonderful and powerful blend that makes Eugene great,” she said.
Krebs added she thought Eugene would have no problem collecting 5,000 pairs of shoes because of the amount of runners who live in the city.
Pete Chism, the recycling manager for Lane County waste management, said that a 90 gallon bin in Glenwood, one of the main collection sites, is almost full with old shoes. Chism added that the Reuse-A-Shoe program was also good for recycling in general.
“It’s one more step of looking at what used to be trash and turning it useful,” he said.
Krebs agreed with Chism, adding that Nike was helping to strengthen the recycling infrastructure. She said the goal of NRC was to make sure every product goes back into another product when it reaches its end use.
Krebs said NRC and Nike had been working together before the launch of the Reuse-A-Shoe campaign. Now that the two are working together, she said, they can develop imaginative solutions for things that right now aren’t being recycled.
Julie Daniel, the general manager of BRING, said she was happy Nike was taking recycling initiatives.
“It is very exciting when a big national company takes some responsibility for the products they make,” she said. “What one company does, other companies will be pushed to do.”