Did you know that the average Australian owns around seven pairs of shoes, but half of them go unworn? Seven seems a bit conservative for those of us who think we’re caterpillars but the survey also revealed that on average, only 3.5 pairs of shoes are worn at least once a month! Not sure who is wearing half a shoe, but there you go.
TreadLightly is a national recycling initiative, backed by the Australian Sporting Goods Association (ASGA) and recycler Save Our Soles (SOS), promoting Australians to recycle their pre-loved sports and active lifestyle shoes by giving them new life and keeping them out of landfill.
TreadLightly collects shoes from participating retail stores and sends them to ‘Save Our Soles’ who turn tired preloved shoes into crumb that is repurposed into products from shock pads to change room flooring, and used in playgrounds and gyms.
Partnering with a host of well-known brands such as Asics, Adidas, Sports Power and Rebel, TreadLighty is passionate about driving a circular economy, turning waste into repurposed products in innovative and dynamic ways.
All you have to do is simply take your unwanted footwear to one of the collection points located at more than 900 sports, activewear and footwear retailers across Australia and TreadLightly will do the rest!
And don’t fear, this isn’t just for our city cousins – the regions can participate too and with 25 million sports shoes being imported into Australia each year and only one percent being collected and recycled, it’s worth running down to your local store to see if they have jumped aboard the TreadLighty Train.
If you’re in the north of the state, head to Intersport Pt Pirie, Whyalla, and Pt Augusta. For the Westies, Intersport at Pt Lincoln is the place to go.
Central Regions can bundle up their Brooks and other brands and take them to Intersport Murray Bridge, SportsPower at Gawler, Clare, Nuriootpa and Renmark.
Southerners can jog to Intersport and The Athlete’s Foot at Mt Gambier and Sports Power at Victor Harbor.
To find out more details about TreadLightly, click here
