If you’re an avid runner, you should be replacing your shoes or sneakers every 300 to 500 miles. This means you’ll soon find yourself with more old pairs of sneakers than you know what to do with!
Resist the temptation to toss your sneakers into the trash, sending them off to sit in a landfill for 30-40+ years. Instead, try one of these options to give your old sneakers new life.
Recycle Your Soles
Environmentally minded runners can jog over to a local drop-off location and send shoes to a local or national recycling program. Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe is probably one of the most well-known of these. The company collects footwear and uses it to make a material called Nike Grind. This is then transformed into many types of athletic surfaces.
Intact shoes in good condition can also be brought to secondhand stores or even consignment shops. These are good options if you decided to upgrade to a better pair or different brand before your old shoes wear out.
Give Your Soles to Someone in Need
People around the world are going without adequate footwear. Donating old sneakers can help remedy this problem by directly providing shoes to those less fortunate, or by establishing business opportunities for vendors in places where good shoes are hard to come by.
Many organizations exist to bring shoes to those in need. Some are involved directly in sports or athletic outreach. Others provide shoes to those in poor countries or focus mainly on shoes for children.
Organizations working with vendors bring gently used shoes to people who can then sell them to locals for reasonable prices, providing much-needed jobs and protective footwear to poorer populations.
Host a Sneaker Drive Fundraiser
To make the most impact for these programs, get your runner friends together and host a sneaker drive fundraiser to help people in need.
GotSneakers offers $7.00 per pair of sneakers collected so that you can raise money for the cause of your choice, while collecting more footwear for those in need than you could send in on your own.
GotSneakers will even provide you with a free fundraising kit full of marketing materials and collection bags!
Finding new uses for old running shoes is an eco-friendly way to declutter your closet and put worn soles to good use. You can enjoy new sneakers as often as necessary to keep your feet safe and supported while running and know someone is benefiting from your previous pair.
Learn more about hosting a sneaker drive fundraiser with GotSneakers today!