Did you know that 300 million pairs of sneakers wind up in a landfill every year? To make matters even worse, more than 600 million people in the world don’t own a pair of shoes. So that leaves the question—what should you do with your used running shoes? More broadly, if you own a running store or are the director of a marathon or road race, how can you lead efforts to keep sneakers out of landfills?
If you’re looking for information on how to donate running shoes, you’ve come to the right place. For years, Sneakers4Good has been redirecting millions of running shoes from landfills into the reuse economy. When you partner with Sneakers4Good, with other sustainability leaders, such as the Boston, Marine Corps, and Austin marathons, you become part of the solution. Moreover, through one of our programs, you do a few things:
So, whether you’re a person looking to empty their closets, a running store retailer, or the director of a road race, Sneakers4Good’s got a program for you. This guide tells you exactly what you need to know about how running shoe donation works and why it’s worth doing.
Anyone who has running shoes they no longer use can donate them for social good. If you’re an individual or family, you can participate in the Sneakers4Good Mail-In Reuse Bag program. The program costs you nothing, and all you have to do is fill the bag with 6-8 pairs of running shoes. Also, when you participate, those running shoes allow you to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, RRCA Kids Run the Nation, and more.
But what if you run or work at a run specialty store, road race, gym, run or cross-country club, or even a pickleball or tennis facility? Sneakers4Good partners with thousands of these types of partners across the U.S. The process is simple:
Contact Sneakers4Good for free running shoe donation materials and coordination
Collect gently worn, new and used running shoes from your community
Ship your running shoes in the prepaid bag
Get paid for the running shoe donations
The first step is to connect with our team to discuss your goals. Perhaps you want to become a Certified Sustainable Store, or maybe you’re leading your local 5K race. Let’s connect, and we’ll make sure to send you the collection and marketing materials to spread the word. Every bag holds 10-15 pairs of running shoes, and there are no shipping charges.
Once you partner with Sneakers4Funds, it’s time to ensure that your community knows it! Most families have sneakers and athletic shoes in closets and storage units. Ask your community to make running shoe donations that divert sneakers into the reuse economy. Once people know you’re looking to keep running shoes out of landfills, they’ll be eager to give you the sneakers.
By becoming a central hub in your community for running shoe donations, you’ll attract more traffic. When you have several bags of donated running shoes, you can drop them off at FedEx or UPS. Shipping is on us. When the sneakers get processed at our international warehouse, you get paid.
Once your bag(s) of sneakers are processed, Sneakers4Good issues payment to you. In turn, you can use the funds for a good social cause within your community. Also, there’s no cap on how much you earn, so the more sneakers you collect, the more funds you earn. In turn, those sneakers end up in the hands of micro-enterprise partners globally, making a big impact.
The reality is that when you or someone in your community donates running shoes, it goes beyond a feel-good gesture. Essentially, understanding how to donate running shoes and taking action addresses the massive waste and sustainability challenges. In 2024, footwear production reached 23.9 billion pairs, with 95% of it ending up in landfills or incinerators. But here’s the thing: there are only 8.3 billion people.
That said, despite the massive production of footwear, millions of people live in great economic need. According to RunRepeat, 1 billion people, including 300 million children, don’t own footwear. The reason is poverty. Sneakers4Good serves as the bridge between responsible running shoe donation in North America and an economic model that provides a hand up to more than 4,000 micro-enterprise partners worldwide.
The reality is that the vast majority of shoes, including athletic and running shoes, still have life in them when their owners no longer use them. Throwing them in the garbage or incinerating athletic shoes only adds to the existential burden of climate change we all face. The fact is that running shoe donations are a socially responsible way to extend the life of sneakers in places where people need them.
It’s important to know that not all sneaker donation or recycling programs run in the same way. Moreover, some may be unethical. For instance, you can make a running sneaker donation, and they cream the best from the top and then resell them on online platforms. Sneakers4Good doesn’t do that. We don’t charge any out-of-pocket fees, offer live, human support, and ship the athletic shoes to 24 countries worldwide. But you don’t have to take our word for it.
Some sneaker donation bins you see in parking lots or storefronts aren’t run by credible organizations. Essentially, they’re run by for-profit recyclers who don’t disclose what happens with the running shoes. They’re happy to have you make a sneaker donation, but you know next to nothing about them and what happens to the athletic shoes. They’re worth a second look to ensure you’re making a good decision.
Let’s say that you want to become a Certified Sustainable Store or other partner of Sneakers4Good. Again, we partner with run store retailers, road races, gyms, sports clubs, and groups. For all of these types of organizations, more than 21,000 partners strong, the Sneakers4Good sneaker reuse programs have been a new way for these groups to engage in their communities and expand their brands.
Any running shoe donation is a good start toward sustainability and social good. But it could remain as a one-time event. The ideal is to become a partner with recurring running shoe donations and opportunities for you to demonstrate your community leadership. A few ideas to keep the running shoe donations coming include the following:
Remember that in-person events focused on physical activity can be great motivators for people to donate running shoes. Collections grow when you partner it within your walkathon, 5K, or 10K road race, or themed community event.
Every pair of running shoes that gets redirected out of landfills does triple duty. For one, it reduces waste, which is environmentally essential. It can also put real money into a cause you love within your community when Sneakers4Good issues you a payment for the sneakers you collect. And finally, it provides inventory for micro-entrepreneurs in developing nations who sell the footwear you collect.
So, are you ready to turn gently worn, used and new sneakers into something bigger? Contact Sneakers4Good to get started.
Donating running shoes has positive effects n your local community, the environment, and micro-entrepreneurs around the world. If you want to learn more and discover other opportunities to support your community leadership efforts, take a look at these additional resources:
Partner with Sneakers4Good to recycle gently worn, used and new running shoes.
"*" indicates required fields
