Nike’s Green Commitment

Tomas Quinones - Contributing Writer
Posted on Tuesday 16th June 2009

In the early 1990s, Nike began looking to reduce their environmental impact. To this end, they decided to establish a program devoted to recycling athletic shoes that were old, called the Reuse-A-Shoe program. The basic premise behind the program was that it would allow people who had outgrown or overused their shoes (of any brand, not just Nike) to donate them to a collection location or event, and Nike would then turn the shoes into a surface called Nike Grind. Nike Grind is used to create athletic and playground surfaces, as well as select Nike products. Since the program was started, more than 22 million pairs of shoes have been recycled.

Today, Reuse-A-Shoe is one of the company’s longest-running community programs and is an integral part of Nike’s corporate aims. Each year, more than one and a half million pairs of athletic shoes are collected, and made into the Nike Grind material. Unfortunately, none of the other athletic shoe companies have followed suit; Nike is the only athletic footwear company to have this sort of a program.

The partners that Nike works with to create the recycled surfaces once Nike Grind is made are as follows:

  1. Atlas Track & Tennis
  2. Ace Surfaces
  3. Playtop
  4. Training Ground
  5. Everlast

Each of these companies has a role in making synthetic sports facilities. Atlas Track and Tennis and Ace Surfaces make running tracks and tennis courts; Playtop makes children’s playground surfaces; Training Ground makes surfaces for home gyms, workout areas and utility spaces; and Everlast is a surface used to absorb shock and eliminate noise within facilities. By working with each of these companies, Nike has reduced the environmental impact of the entire shoe industry.

Fortunately, the NBA players have been paying attention, even if other shoe companies have not. During this past NBA season, Steve Nash wore a pair of shoes to a game against the Dallas Mavericks, which were the “first performance basketball shoe made from manufacturing waste.” The shoes were released to the public on April 22.

It is greatly puzzling why other shoe companies do not follow Nike’s lead and help the world create a lower environmental footprint. Fortunately, it seems the NBA and its players are helping to usher in a new era of environmental awareness, despite what companies such as Reebok and adidas are not doing.

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