Have your running shoes reached the end of their race? Have you owned a pair of sneakers for a while that are practically new because you never use them? If it’s time to get rid of them there are now more ecological alternatives than the garbage thanks to recent developments in recycling. View the tips in this video from Salomon TV.
If you live near Boulder, Colorado, you can donate your shoes to One World Running. Stop by your local running store to see if they are a collection point.
Since 1986, One World Running has collected, washed, and sent athletic shoes, along with T-shirts, shorts, medicine, and school supplies to developing countries.
To promote its goal of bringing people closer together through running and promoting a healthy lifestyle, One World Running puts on run/walks in these countries in conjunction with the shoe distribution.
Most sports shoes, as well as other athletic equipment, are now collected and sent from around the United States. A portion of the donated shoes goes to shelters, churches, and Native American reservations in the U.S.
Originally called Shoes for Africa, the group was formed after sports journalist Michael Sandrock returned from a coaching and racing trip in Cameroon, West Africa, sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency. Many of the runners from Cameroon ran barefoot (and were still able to beat Sandrock).
Afterward, several Boulder elite runners including Lorraine Moller, Steve Jones, and Arturo Barrios began shipping shoes to West Africa. The project has grown since then under the directorship of Ana Weir, an ER nurse, who was named a 2005 Hero of Running by Runner’s World Magazine. Learn more in the video below.
