Watch The Shoe Garden on Fox 5 news about our Sneaker recycling program

Recycle Old Shoes

Updated: Wednesday, 15 Jul 2009, 3:23 PM EDT Published : Wednesday, 15 Jul 2009, 12:54 PM EDT

MYFOXNY.COM - Some old sneakers are avoiding a trip to the trash and are getting a second lease on life.

Nike has what it calls, the Nike Grind. It is described as a reverse manufacturing process. Some parts are recycled in new shoes.

Some of the parts are turned into the playing surfaces in Manhattan's Hudson River Park and other parks across the country.

The Shoe Garden in the West Village collects shoes as their way to give back to the community.

Since Nike's program started it has collected more than 23 million shoes.

From Adidas to Reebok, you can recycle your old sneakers with ease and help turn them into new shoes or a new park! Right now, in New York City, there are two drop off locations—at the Nike Store in Times Square or at Shoe Garden at 152 W 10th St in Manhattan.

The drop off is free, and Shoe Garden, a childrens' shoe store, will give you a discount on your purchase if you bring in old sneakers.

You can also find more sneaker drop-off locations by entering your ZIP code at www.nikereuseashoe.com

Being Green

We are committed to being "green" (the leafy theme continues). From the outset a portion of all of our proceeds have been marked for park plantings and neighborhood green improvements.

We currently have an adorable selection of boys and girls eco-friendly shoes from the 'Simple' brand. These shoes are not only very hip and cool but they are also made in an eco-friendly way, or using environmentally friendly materials. These shoes have a great surfer-dude/chick feel and karma about them - so your kids can be green and cool! This coming Spring we will be introducing an environmentally responsible line of shoes from 'Naturino'. This line offers customers a great combination of buying a well-known trusted brand-name for kids shoes and at the same time fulfilling their desire to do what's right for the planet.

This Spring we are introducing an environmentally responsible line of shoes from 'Naturino'. Naturino is a leading brand in kids designer shoes and they have just launched their eco-friendly "green" line of footwear, marked with a little green leather tag! This line offers customers a great combination of buying a well-known trusted brand-name for kids shoes and at the same time fulfilling their desire to do what's right for the planet.

While our green efforts have started small here at the Shoe Garden, we are determined to find more sustainable ways of doing business so we can continue to grow. Recently switched our electric utility to an environmentally-sound supplier, which you still contract through ConEd, which is great. We also reduced our shipping packaging and switch to a non-bleached brown paper for wrapping. We continue to think of ways to improve our green profile.