Turn Old Shoes into New Playgrounds
Posted by Richard Kuhlenschmidt Tue, 12 Dec 2006 01:39:48 GMT
Ever wonder what to do with those old worn out athletic shoes that the kids grow out of? Throw them out? (add to the landfill) Donate them? (who wants to wear old sneakers?)
How about recycling them into new playground equipment? That’s what you can do with Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe Program.
Reuse-A-Shoe is a key component of Nike’s long-term commitment to waste elimination by helping to close the loop on the life cycle of literally millions of pairs of old, worn-out or otherwise unusable athletic shoe material. Reuse-A-Shoe also plays an important role in Nike’s long-term commitment to help increase the physical activity of young people to improve their lives by reusing this old athletic shoe material in new places for kids to play and be active.
In fact, entire cities like Milwaukee have embraced the program.
Milwaukee is committed to waste reduction and diversion.
The City of Milwaukee has participated in the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program since the summer of 2004 and collects used athletic shoes at numerous locations throughout the metro area. Once the shoes are collected, they are shipped to Nike and recycled into three separate materials. These materials are used in new sports surfaces such as playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts, and running tracks. The City of Milwaukee has already been utilizing recycled rubber products in its playgrounds and tot lots for years and will continue to use these recycled materials. Recycled shoe material from the Milwaukee area will end up in athletic and play surfaces in communities all throughout the nation. From August 2004 when Milwaukee started its shoe recycling program through the end of 2005, over 20,700 pairs of used athletic shoes were collected for recycling from Milwaukee area residents! That’s over 15 and a half tons of shoes recycled and over 135 cubic yards of landfill space saved! Get old shoes back in the game and help conserve resources and landfill space.
This is one way you can help save the Earth, one step at a time (pun intended)!
