Keen runners tend to amass a lot of running shoes, especially if you’re keeping up with the best running shoes and picking up new ones every few months. Not all of those shoes end up being used to death, which means there is an opportunity to recycle your running shoes if you know how.
One way is to send them to JogOn, which is aiming to receive 10,000 donated pairs of running shoes this Christmas, and keep those shoes out of landfill as a result.
JogOn estimates over 30 million shoes end up in landfill every year and that many of those shoes could still be used by someone. Once you send your old shoes to JogOn they will be sorted so that any pairs with life left in them can be sent on to one of its partners around the world. Any shoes that are completely worn out are shredded.
To make it easier for you to recycle your shoes with JogOn, the charity has partnered with SportsShoes.com and Evri so that you can send a package of shoes for just £2. You can send a package that’s 120cm long with a maximum circumference of 225cm, and up to 15kg in weight, using the voucher.
Depending on how tightly you pack in the shoes, JogOn suggests you can get up to 40 pairs in one box, though given the increasingly high stacks of cushioning on modern running shoes, that’s probably a little optimistic.
Once you’ve packed up the shoes, take the package to an Evri drop-off point and give yourself a pat on the back – you’ve cleared out some space at home and recycled your running shoes in an environmentally sound way, rather than just sticking them in the bin.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for the JogOn campaign but we need everyone across the UK to donate to really make an impact,” says JogOn founder Tony Piedade. “We’ve made it as easy and cost-effective as possible to donate, and are excited about gathering more momentum and support for the campaign this Christmas and beyond.”
