Sneakers first appeared in the early 1900s.
Most people toss out their tennis shoes at the first signs of wear, but often, the shoes are still perfectly functional. If you are concerned about the environment, enjoy helping others, or need to de-clutter your closet, you can donate your used tennis shoes to a number of different charities rather than sending them to a landfill. Even if your tennis shoes are ancient, stained and falling apart, you can keep your shoes out of the garbage and keep the planet a little greener by sending them to a shoe-recycling organization.
Instructions
1. Wash your shoes in the washing machine. Let them air dry in the sun.
2. Pack your new and gently used shoes in a box and send them to a charity such as Soles4Souls, which coordinated relief efforts for both the tsunami in Asia and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans:
Soles4Souls, Inc.
315 Airport Road
Roanoke, AL 36274
Other tennis shoe charities include Hope Runs, Shoe 4 Africa, One World Running, The Shoe Bank, Heart and Sole or Sole Responsibility. Check online for more charities in your local area, or start your own shoe drive and coordinate with a school, religious group or charity in a third-world country that you want to support.
3. Take or send your old, worn shoes to Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program, which grinds up the shoes to make a rubbery material for things like school running tracks and playgrounds. Nike accepts any brand of athletic shoe, as long as it has no metal on it and is not a cleat, sandal or dress shoe. Consult the map on the Reuse-a-Shoe website to find an official recycling location near you, or send the shoes to:
Nike Grind Processing
3552 Avenue of Commerce
Memphis, TN 38125
Tags: sending them, shoes Nike, tennis shoes, your shoes