Students in Anne Marie Zimeri's environmental health science class want their peers' shoes. They are not looking for Manolo Blahniks or Air Zooms. Instead, they want old athletic shoes for Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program, which recycles them for use in running tracks, basketball and tennis courts, and playgrounds.

The class adopted the cause as its required project and is collecting shoes from Nov. 2 to Nov. 17 with bins at East Campus Village, Ramsey Center and Rucker Hall, as well as the YMCA and BodyPlex.

Zimeri instructed students to organize a class project focusing on the environment.

"It's a good learning experience," she said. "(The students) learn the basics of organizing themselves and collaborating with others."

Students presented "five or six" proposals a few weeks later, Zimeri said, and then voted on them on WebCT.

Marla Martinez, a freshman from McDonough, researched athletic shoe recycling and found Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe, which the class then decided was the best option. Martinez said she liked the program because it took recycling a step further.

"Nobody takes into account the clothes and shoes (we) throw away," she said.

Sarah Mink, a sophomore from Cave Spring, said students picked the program because "not only does it help the environment, but it also helps the community."

"Everyone has old tennis shoes lying around," she said.

As part of the public relations group, Martinez created a Web site, MySpace page and Facebook group, to promote the program.

When collection is over, another group will gather the shoes and deliver them to Nike headquarters in Atlanta.

While the class did not set a numerical target for its project, Martinez said the goal is to make this kind of recycling as routine as the recycling of cans or bottles.

"We want to try to get it to stay on campus," she said.

Zimeri said students will gather data after the shoes are collected to determine what kinds of shoes were donated and which locations received the most donations in order to help the effort in the future.


Writer: Whitney Homans, Red & Black Newspaper

Contact Information

Anne Marie Zimeri
zimeri@uga.edu
706.542.9567 (voice)
706.542.7472 (fax)