The Venice YMCA is hosting a group

    See the recording below to show much more about the program.

    The criteria for shoes to become recycled are that they must be tennis shoes (no sports shoes), no cleats or metal in the shoes plus they can not be wet or damp since the shoes may be stored before shipping. Nike schedules shipping to reduce their carbon footprint and ships only if collection points meet a certain criteria. Also, it doesn't matter what brand these shoes are.

    Locally, there's two collection points for the Reuse-A-Shoe program: The Nike Factory Store at Miromar Outlets, found at 10801 Corkscrew Road in Estero (click here for a map) or the Nike Factory Store at Tanger Outlets, located at 20350 Summerlin Road in Ft. Myers (get more information at a roadmap). The Venice YMCA is hosting a group at their triathlon on September 4, 2010. Nike asks that you simply bring a maximum of 10 pairs at any given time. If you are having an event or need to get your business or school involved, you may also be a Nike Community Activist.

    Instead of tossing your old athletic shoes copa mundial in to the landfill, drop them at one of the collection points for the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe or assist the environment by starting a group drive at your workplace, school or event.For those who have questions or suggestions, please email me. If you'd like to discuss any of the topics, check out our Facebook page.

Environmental surroundings is important to a lot of fitness enthusiasts. They involve themselves in lots of of the same activities the rest of the public does to recycle. But there's one program that is aimed directly at the fitness populations, the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program.

    The program was conceived in 1990 and place into action in 1993. In 1999 it expanded this program into Asia as well as in 2002 into Australia and Europe. This program works by taking worn-out tennis shoes and recycling them into a material called Nike Grind. Shoes are taken from US collection points and shipped to a facility in Memphis, Tennessee. The shoe is divided into three parts, the upper, midsole and outsole. The whole shoe is used. Each part is then ground into Nike Grind. A few of the Grind is put back into Nike products including zipper pulls and snaps on Livestrong jackets or All Conditions Gear and the outsoles of shoes like the Pegasus 25 or even the Jordan XX3.

    The rest can be used for sports surfaces. The fabric can be used on playground surfaces, running tracks, gym and weight room flooring, tennis courts and synthetic grass soccer or football fields. The material may also be used as padding underneath indoor synthetic or wood courts. It's mixed in with recycleables, and surfacing companies could use between 10 and 40 % of Nike Grind. A backyard basketball court could use 2,500 pairs of recycled shoes, a full soccer field could use 50,000 to 75,000 pairs and a running track will likely use 75,000 pairs. Since the program started, Nike has recycled 25,056,779 pairs of shoes chaussures de foot pas cher that will otherwise sit in a landfill.