I generally wear my shoes until the rubber soles are smooth and the uppers are falling apart at the seams. At that point there’s no use donating them to Goodwill as they’re no longer functional for anyone else to wear. Now instead of trashing them, I have another option… and so do you.

St. Andrew’s Parks and Playground in West Ashley is taking part in Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program, which is an awesome initiative that keeps worn-out sneakers out of landfills and repurposes them to make surfaces for athletic fields, tennis courts, running tracks, and playgrounds.

It’s simple, instead of throwing away your crusty athletic shoes, you drop them off in designated collection boxes at the St. Andrew’s Parks and Playground complex. And they accept all brands — not just Nike. The collected shoes are then sent to Nike and processed into “Nike Grind” material. The shoe components, including rubber, foam, leather and various fabrics are separated into three distinct types of material and used in different aspects of producing various sport surfaces.

For more information, contact Ann Black at St. Andrew’s Parks by calling 843.763.4360. For a map containing drop off locations nation-wide, click here. St. Andrews just recently began collecting shoes so they’re not on the map yet, but three other locations in South Carolina are, including Myrtle Beach, Lynchburg, and Sumter. Nike also provides a mailing address where you can send shoes directly…

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