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Five Different Ways to Recycle Shoes

Two Painted SneakersThe throwing of a shoe can be a powerful statement, depending on where you aim it.  For most of us, though, show-throwing usually goes more like this: open trash can, insert shoe.

Still, our shoe-throwing matters.  Hundreds of millions of shoes get bought, used, and presumably thrown away every year in the United States alone. So, along, with our newspapers, bottles and cans, it’s time to put some more thought into recycling our shoes.

Let’s read on to see 5 different ways to recycle shoes:

1. Reuse Your Shoes.

Are you one of those people who rarely, if ever, throws away a usable pair of shoes?  You make sure they get reused: you put them in your yard sale or give them to the local clothing drive, or you hand them over to family and friends, sell them on ebay or whatever.  You can get more ideas on passing along shoes from Recycled Runners, which is starting an online directory of shoe donation opportunities.  Soles4Soles is just one of many organizations that collect used shoes in bulk for charity and will help you organize a local shoe drive.

So let’s move on to something a little more challenging: what to do with worn-out shoes?

2. Paint Your Shoes.

If the uppers are worn but not the soles, the shoes still have some life left in them.  They just need some freshening up.  The fancy word for this is up-cycling.  You can have great fun embellishing them with paint and other substances.  Fabric paint or spray paint works best, but you can experiment with practically any kind of paint.  Permanent markers can work on light-colored shoes.  Just make sure they’re thoroughly clean and dry.

If you have some craft glue and sewing scraps around the house, replace the laces with colorful yarn, then glue on scraps of fabric, lace, and buttons.

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3. Re-purpose Your Shoes.

Yes, the strap broke on your Manolos.  No, you don’t have the money to repair them.  Fine.  Nobody ever promised they’d be shoes forever.  You can use them to hold keys and spare change, fill them with dirt and plant something in them, fill them with cement and make door-stoppers out of them, store old necklaces in them, re-lace them with sparkly ribbon and put potpourri in them…the list is endless.

And…don’t forget to re-purpose your old doll shoes into cute earrings.

4. Recycle – Really Recycle – Your Shoes.

If you only buy sneakers or crocs, then you can recycle all of your shoes — really recycle them.  The Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program will take your sneakers, grind them up, and turn them into surfaces for playgrounds and athletic fields.

For crocs, check out Soles United.  This organization grinds them up and turns them into new shoes.  Like Reuse-a-Shoe, they have a handy zip code location finder on their web site for dropoff sites, and they provide support for organizing local shoe drives.

If your town is recycling worn-out plastic toys, it also pays to ask if you can throw wornout crocs and other all-plastic shoes in there, too.  Ask first!

And…a Kenyan company called UniqEco will take your old flip-flops and recycle them into beautiful (and unique!) bracelets, earrings, and many other colorful products – even a Noah’s Ark.

5.  Pre-Cycle Your Shoes.

Pre-cycle means you think about what’s going to happen when you throw away your old worn-out shoe, before you even buy it.  The next time you go shoe shopping, buy sneakers or crocs — or buy shoes made from recycled or natural, safely biodegradable materials.  They can be pricey, but word is that even Payless is introducing a line of eco-friendlier shoes this spring — we’ll be checking on that!.

Image: deb roby at flickr.com under creative commons.

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Comments

  1. Jeremy says

    January 9, 2009 at 6:11 pm

    Good story but EXCELLENT opening. Well done.

    Reply
  2. deb says

    January 9, 2009 at 10:55 pm

    Nice story. Thanks for showing my painting shoes. I wrote a painted shoe tutorial that goes along with the photo.

    Reply
  3. Jamie Ervin says

    January 10, 2009 at 12:12 pm

    Painting shoes… what fun!

    We just had a major foot growth spurt with our 6 year old… she had way too many pair of shoes because Daddy is a shoe developer and she was in a sample size. Now, we have tons of gently used shoes that are going to a charity so someone else can get use out of them!

    The Nike shoe recycle is available at most Nike stores, you can take in ANY athletic shoe, regardless of brand and deposit it.

    Nike regrind becomes more than surfaces (play, track, flooring) it also becomes part of the Green Rubber Nike uses in new shoes, the rubber is part traditional sole and part regrind.

    I try to repair shoes whenever I can (I’m a bargain shoe shopper with a major shoe fetish), so I don’t ever want to part with a pair. It can be remarkably cost effective to re-tip heals, repair scuffs, and if the foot bed (insole) is worn, use a replacement insert.

    Paying attention to the shoe process is so vital. I love Simple Shoes. I’m also a fan of Keen and some Nike products (many have a sustainability number).

    I’ve found it difficult to attempt second hand for my shoes… find a properly fitting shoe that still looks great is rare!

    Thanks for these GREAT ideas. I can see my kids painting up some shoes very soon!

    Reply
  4. jen says

    January 10, 2010 at 1:19 pm

    cool.but will Nike-Reuse-a shoe accept non athelitic shoes?like plain leather black heels or just plain shoes?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. For Your Information: What To Do With Your Unwanted Shoes : blog.envishoes.com says:
    May 27, 2010 at 11:27 am

    […] different : With a little elbow grease, perhaps you can turn your shoes to, say, a planter? Read here to find out […]

    Reply

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About Eco Child’s Play

Our ethos is to provide news, information, and opinions on natural, green parenting to help your family live a greener, healthier life! Additionally, we offer personal consulting services to help you achieve your green living goals.

Jennifer is a vegetarian, yoga teacher, gardener, hiker, teacher, and mother that has been living off-the-grid for over 20 years.

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