Tempe, ASU and Nike are giving your old, smelly sneakers a second chance.
The three are teaming up in Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program to revamp city sports facilities.
The city's goal is to collect 5,000 pairs of shoes that will be recycled to refurbish sports facilities in Tempe.
"Shoes actually don't decompose in landfills very well," said Tempe spokeswoman Shauna Warner. "So recycling them helps the environment too."
Nike uses the shoes to make a material they call Nike Grind, which is used to create and refurbish existing courts, fields, and other facilities. Different materials are made from different parts of the shoes -- Nike Grind Rubber, Nike Grind Foam, and Nike Grind Upper Fabric.
The collection began in September and two full 90-gallon bins have already been collected, Warner said.
Once the 5,000 pairs have been collected by the city, Nike will grind the shoes to use in manufacturing the floors.
City officials said they hope the shoes can be used to refurbish the surfaces of sports facilities in Tempe as soon as possible, although they do not know when that would be.
"The primary users would be young people and youth groups," said Warner.
Five locations are available for drop off in the area; the ASU Student Recreation Complex, Gentle Strength Cooperative at 234 W. University Drive, Kiwanis Recreation Center at 6111 S. All-America Way, the Tempe Public Library at 3500 S. Rural Road and Tempe South Police Substation at 8201 S. Hardy Drive.
The type of shoe doesn't matter, Warner said. They can be any brand as long as they are athletic shoes without metal, such as cleats, Warner said.
The majority of shoes collected so far have come from Kiwanis Recreation Center, Warner said.
Biology junior Raenuka Bhadriraju said she hadn't heard about the plan to help the city refurbish its recreation facilities.
"This is a cool plan," she said. "I will definitely be donating my next pair of shoes."
Nike began the program in 1993. It is now a worldwide project that is part of NikeGo, a program that works to promote healthy lifestyles to kids through physical activity.
Reach the reporter at katherine.ruark@asu.edu.
