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UConn is in the midst of its first campuswide sneaker recycling drive. Collection bins have been set up in community areas in residence halls, cafeterias and athletic facilities.

Running to recycle

By: Kate Slomkowski

Posted: 4/1/05

UConn's first campuswide sneaker drive is off to a running start. All types of athletic sneaker are being collected with the exception of dress shoes, boots or shoes containing metal.

According to the Office of Environmental Policy's web site, collection bins are set up in community areas in residence halls, cafeterias and athletic facilities.

The web site said the collected sneakers will be recycled to make "new running tracks, athletic surfaces and community playgrounds."

A press release stated the EcoHusky Student Group, the Department of Residential Life, the Division of Athletics, the Student Athletic Advisory Council and Willimantic Waste are working together to collect the used sneakers.

According to the press release, the goal is to collect 5,000 pairs of worn-out shoes by June 2005.

"This is all through Nike," said Kate Wadach, an 8th-semester environmental policy major and intern in the Office of Environmental Policy.

"As long as you meet the requirement 5,000 pairs, Nike will arrange to have all those sneakers picked up from a centralized drop-off location, shipped off and they do all the processing and building of the surfaces," Wadach said.

Wadach said the Division of Athletics traditionally ran the Nike Reuse-A-Shoe program. She approached them with the idea of a campus-wide drive and got information from them how to expand the program.

Dennis Comprone, ResLife Building Renovation Projects director, picked out the sites for the drop-off bins six weeks ago.

"We set up locations in 26 residential areas, common rooms. We collect every other day from the common rooms and every day from the cafeteria bins," Comprone said. "We've picked up more pairs since students got back from Spring Break."

Comprone helped promote the event by handing out flyers students found in their mailboxes before break.

"Right now, our next task is to get the word out to the local community since we have started the initial outreach on campus," Wadach said.

Wadach said she hopes the enthusiasm generated on campus by the drive will carry over to the local community. The outreach will benefit the growth of the drive for semesters to come.

Comprone said the sneaker drive is a positive addition to the recycling program UConn was required to install in 1991 because of a new state regulation that required recycling in all state agencies.

"The university is doing well [in it's recycling program]," Comprone said. "We have to reduce waste every year by 20 percent, but we manage 25 percent per year."

Comprone said the UConn community is tough to manage since it is up to the students to choose whether or not to support the recycling program.
Mark Hood, a graduate student in the Natural Resource Management and Engineering program, has been involved in the drive by volunteering his skills as president of the Soil Water Conservation Society (SWCS).

"We've been talking about the sneaker drive since last Earth Day," Hood said. "[SWSCS] hopes to be continually involved in long run. I hope to see real benefits to people in the surrounding community."

Wadach said on Earth Day, April 22, she hopes to gain media attention by filling a dumpster with the collected shoes next to Gampel Pavilion. The dumpster will demonstrate the waste that would have gone to landfills.

Hood said the members of SWSC will manage a display by the dumpster that has samples of what the sneakers will be made into.

Wadach said that UConn is not the only university looking for publicity for the sneaker drive.

"Yale is also doing a similar program," Wadach said. "And they're going to highlight it on the next day, Saturday, April 23, so we're hoping that UConn can yet again show our championship qualities in an environmental event."