July 26 (Day 148) From Basketball Shoe to Basketball Court

Established in the early 1990s, Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program collects old, worn-out athletic shoes for recycling, transforming them into Nike Grind, a material used in creating athletic and playground surfaces as well as select Nike products.

More than 1.5 million pairs of post-consumer shoes are collected for recycling each year. This is in addition to thousands of tons of manufacturing scrap material that is recycled. Since the program began, we've collected more than 24 million pairs of used athletic shoes. You can also recycle LIVESTRONG wristbands from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Wonder how many worn-out shoes – or the amount of Nike manufacturing scrap – it takes to make a sports surface?  Check out this list for the part of the shoe that's used, and approximately how many pairs of shoes (or the manufacturing scrap equivalent), generally go into each type of surface containing Nike Grind:

• Outdoor basketball court (midsole foam): 2,500 pairs
• Outdoor tennis court (midsole foam): 2,500 pairs
• Full field or soccer pitch (outsole rubber): 50,000-75,000 pairs
• Mini soccer field (outsole rubber): 10,000-20,000 pairs
• Running track (outsole rubber): 75,000 pairs
• Playground (outsole rubber): 2,500 pairs
• Indoor wood basketball court (upper fabric): 2,500 pairs
• Indoor synthetic basketball court (midsole foam): 2,500 pairs

How You Can Help: 

Get in the Game. Drop Off Your Kicks. Clean out your closet, take a peek under the bed and ask your friends and family – chances are, you'll find a few pairs of kicks lying around that have seen better days. When it's time to say goodbye, bring your athletic shoes to any Nike Reuse-A-Shoe drop-off location – there are more than 200 locations in eight countries around the world, including all U.S. Nike stores.

Not Near a Drop-Off Location?
You can also mail your worn-out sneakers directly to our recycling facility. Please note that Nike cannot pay for individuals' shipping costs. Mail them to:

Nike Grind Processing
3552 Avenue of Commerce
Memphis, TN 38125

Please limit in-store drop-offs to 10 pairs of shoes at a time to prevent overwhelming our collection bins.

If you can, bring your shoes to a drop-off location rather than mailing them. This helps consolidate shipments to our facility, which results in a smaller carbon footprint for the program.

We can only accept shipments at our recycling facility. Please do not mail shoes to retail stores.

Remember, athletic shoes and LIVESTRONG wristbands only. We can’t recycle shoes with metal parts, mud or water, cleats, dress shoes, sandals or flip-flops, or wristbands from other brands.

Want to do more? If you live near a Nike store, you may also be able to host a Reuse-A-Shoe drive with your group or school. Learn more about hosting a drive.

Source: www.nikereuseashoe.com