Recycling old athletic shoes

One of our objectives of this blog is to point fellow neighbors to resources and places to recycle, reduce or reuse that are in or near the 'hood. However, we know that there are some items where it's still not possible to find "local" places. An example of that is athletic shoes. Once worn out, you can't really donate them for someone else to wear.

Nike, however, does have a recycling program that takes old shoes, separates them into their raw materials, like rubber, foam and fabric. These materials get turned into athletic surfaces like courts, tracks or even playground surfaces.

It looks like there are 2 Nike stores in Bloomington (one in the Mall of America) that accept shoe donations. Check out this website to find out where you can drop off your shoes if you prefer not to go to Bloomington.