What to do with my shoes?

October 30, 2006 8:59 PM

What do I do with my old shoes?

I'm a packrat, plain and simple, and I've been accumulating shoes for the last 5 years or so. A lot of them are pretty torn up now (I play a lot tennis and I don't get new shoes until my old ones are torn up, which is every 5 months or so). So what do I do with these 6 or so pairs of old size 15 (no typo) tennis shoes? It seems like, at very least, a waste of material to just toss them out.
I don't know how desperate people are for shoes in Seattle, but is there someplace/someway to donate and/or reuse and/or recycle these shoes? Even if it's just an art project of some sort it'd be better than the trash, in my opinion. Ideas?

posted by Slimemonster to clothing, beauty, & fashion (10 comments total)

I once took a bag of old clothes and shoes (which were too far gone to donate) to a place where a lot of homeless people hang out. I asked the least scary-looking person if they knew anyone who could use these old shoes, and they took the bag happily. Last I saw, they were rummaging through it and sharing the stuff with friends.
posted by Quietgal at 9:04 PM on October 30, 2006

Offer them up on Craig's List for free?
posted by wfrgms at 9:21 PM on October 30, 2006

Do you also have a spare mattress?
posted by rossination at 9:25 PM on October 30, 2006

No offense, but if they are torn up... they are trash.
posted by FlamingBore at 10:17 PM on October 30, 2006

Don't you have this kind of event in the U.S.?
posted by rom1 at 12:07 AM on October 31, 2006

Send them to Nike, they recycle old shoes and turn them into basketball courts and whatnot.

The Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program recycles all brands of athletic shoes to create premium sport surfaces such as soccer pitches, football fields, tracks, basketball courts and tennis courts. To find out how you can recycle your shoes at a collection location near you, visit www.nikereuseashoe.com. If there is not a location nearby, you may also recycle shoes by mailing them, at your own expense, directly to Nike. Please note that we cannot accept non-athletic shoes or athletic shoes containing any metal parts.

Nike Recycling Center
c/o Reuse-A-Shoe
26755 SW 95th
Wilsonville, OR 97070

Once at the Nike Recycling Center, shoes are ground up into a material called Nike Grind, which is used in sports surfaces donated to communities across the country. The Reuse-A-Shoe sports surface donation project is part of NikeGO, a grassroots community affairs program with a mission to increase physical activity in youth by offering children 8-15 the motivation to discover the joy of movement and the fun of physical activity. For more information on Nike's environmental programs and policies, please visit Corporate Responsibility.

Thanks again for your interest in Nike Reuse-A-Shoe, and for helping to get your old shoes back in the game.
posted by efalk at 1:13 AM on October 31, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

just noticed you're in seattle, niketown in seattle would probably take them
posted by efalk at 1:25 AM on October 31, 2006

Wherever you live, the bees need more flowers and the air needs more oxygen. Plant flowers in them. No, really.

Seeing as you have several, try to create an interesting combined display, such as shoes walking down a wall, which would be a good way to have flowers in a place with limited space.

Choose flowers that contrast well with the colors of the shoes. Maybe not red in red, for example, but red in white, white in red, etc. To affix them to the wall, maybe nail through the heel or just lace them to a trellis.
posted by pracowity at 4:29 AM on October 31, 2006

The program sounds super-cool, but the Nike website is a pain in the ass to navigate. The info on the program and drop offs can be found here, hopefully that link will work... If it doesn't, from the front page, go to About Nike/Jobs -> Environment -> Reuse a shoe -> United States.
posted by whatzit at 7:55 AM on October 31, 2006

Thanks efalk and whatzit
posted by Slimemonster at 12:44 PM on October 31, 2006