LIHU‘E — The County Recycling Office will have containers available to collect used athletic shoes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, at Vidinha Stadium. Coinciding with the county’s Age Group Track Meet, the County Recycling Office will
LIHU‘E — The County Recycling Office will have containers available to collect used athletic shoes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, at Vidinha Stadium.
Coinciding with the county’s Age Group Track Meet, the County Recycling Office will have volunteers on hand to help with the collection of used athletic shoes under its Recycle-A-Shoe event.
All brands of athletic shoes will be accepted, but no shoes with cleats or shoes with metal will be acceptable. No slippers, dress shoes, or wet or damp shoes will be accepted.
All shoes that are collected will be sent to Nike’s Recycling Facility in Oregon where a “slice-and-grind” technique will be used to split the shoe into three types of Nike Grind materials.
Rubber from the outsole are used in track surfaces, interlocking gym flooring tiles and trim items such as buttons and zipper pulls. Foam from the midsole is used as a cushion for outdoor basketball and tennis courts, volleyball courts and equestrian surfacing products.
Nike Shoes, in its Nike Reuse a Shoe Web site, states that it has branched out from sports surfaces and started using pre-consumer Nike Grind, a material derived from recycled athletic shoes, in new Nike products like zipper pulls, buttons and promotional items.
Nike Grind is used in a variety of sports surfaces which decreased the need for virgin rubber and other materials.
Nike, in its Web site, said its goal is to make recycling athletic shoes second nature along with the recycling of household waste like plastic, glass, paper and cardboard.
Kaohelaulii said she has collected about 800 shoes since last year.
Work It Out in Kapa‘a is one of several shoe recycling sites on the island. Kaua‘i fire stations around the island will accept used athletic shoes for recycling through Friday.
A shoe recycling container is available year-round at the rotunda of the Moikeha Building, and used athletic shoes can be dropped off at the Kaua‘i Resource Center on Ahukini Road.
Other locations include Foot Locker, Famous Footwear and Deja Vu in the Kukui Grove Shopping Center and the Kaua‘i Athletic Club.
For more information, call the County Recycling Office at 241-4841.
