Corporate Responsibility initiative, which strives to reduce the environmental footprint created from the production of athletic footwear. In 1993, they built a basketball court as a test surface. A decade later in 2003, Nike started incorporating Nike Grind material into key chains, promotional products and then later retail products, e.g. ACG and Air Jordan. Sneakers collected through the Reuse-A-Shoe program, as well as manufacturing scrap are processed into three products collectively known as Nike Grind, i.e. Nike Grind rubber, foam and upper fabric. To date, nearly 25 million pairs of athletic shoes have been recycled through this program. Nike has partnered with tennis court surfacing partner, Rebound Ace, which uses Nike Grind Foam as a cushion below the playing surface, providing support and springiness for indoor and outdoor tennis courts. With 2500 pairs of recycled sneakers, the midsole foam for an outdoor tennis court can be produced. So what are you waiting for? Empty out all your old tennis (and other) sneakers from your closet and drop them off at a local sneaker recycling center... one day you may be playing tennis on a court built from those old sneakers!

Posted by TC at 06:55 PM |