Day 90: Out With the Old & In With the New

I have posted a similar GIVE to this one quite some time ago but it’s worth mentioning again. Over the holidays my husband likes to clear out  some old items he no longer needs. This holiday season it was running shoes. He had received a gift of a new pair of running shoes and realized he had a several old pairs he needed to dispose of.  This is the best part – he remembered one of my posts where I had gone with our son to put them into the NIKE Reuse a Shoe recycling bin. I have to tell you this was a proud moment for me. My husband has a very demanding job and most days he doesn’t have much space in his head for anything other than the task at hand so the fact he remembered my past post about this program and has now followed through with a GIVE makes me think I am doing what I set out to do – inspiring people to GIVE more in their lives.

GIVE 90 / DAY 90

Running shoes are most likely one of the single greatest inventions ever made, especially when you are runners like our family. The great thing about this specific sport is you can do it anywhere, any time of day, on trails, on the road, in a gym. Every time you run it’s a little different, your body feels a little different, the air on your face and the cushion under your feet are different.  No two feet are alike and each one  of us has preferences as to which type of running shoe fits our feet just right. Because we live in BC multi pairs of shoes are needed if you are a trail runner verses a road runner or if you enjoy both running options.

My husband likes to do both – trail and road running, so he has multiple pairs of running shoes for each surface. When a running shoe he likes goes on sale he will even buy a number of pairs at a time as he wears them out on a regular basis. Today was out with the old and in with the new. He had 3 or 4 pairs that had seen their best days and it was time to get rid of them. But what are your options for recycling running shoes? There are a number of them:

1.       A Salvation Army Thrift Store (or any not for profit thrift store)

2.       Giving them to a homeless person

3.       Nike Recycling Program

My husband chose to take them in to our local NIKE Store as he was buying a new pair of shoes there at the same time. In each store there is a box where you can place your old running shoes (they do not have to be Nike brand shoes). The program is called Nike Reuse a Shoe. Here is what the program accomplishes today and what they are planning for tomorrow:

“Today, your worn-out athletic shoes can already live on in something new: a track, a basketball court, a playground. But tomorrow, our goal is that sports shoes, apparel and equipment will also be recycled into new Nike products. This way the materials we use will go through many cycles of design, manufacture and use. Just like bottles, cans and paper do now.”

So the old shoes will be turned into something new and I am so proud of my hubby for getting in his GIVE of the day. If you have any unique ways you have recycled some of your old gear please let us know so we can jump on your giving band wagon.

Time Commitment: 5 minutes to pack up your old shoes and put them into the car

Cost: 0