200 More Ways to Recycle in San Diego

Today’s post comes from ILACSD’s Hotline Assistant, Barbara Lopez!

This year I Love A Clean San Diego was able to add over 200 new centers to its one-stop recycling resource, WasteFreeSD.org. Included in these new additions were 107 e-waste collection events that allow residents to recycle their old electronics free of charge. What does that mean to you? It is now much easier for you to do the “green” thing and recycle.

Here are two of the more unique additions:

Waste to Waves

Although foam packaging is great for protecting your new electronics or appliances, it is not the easiest thing to recycle. Most waste haulers do not accept it in their curbside recycling program so many times it just ends up in the landfill. Luckily, Sustainable Surf’s Waste To Waves program collects packaging foam for recycling. The program has set up drop off locations at surf shops in California, including four in San Diego County (Hansen’s Surf Shop in Encinitas, K-5 Boardshop in Encinitas & Oceanside, and Shaper Studios in San Diego). Once the foam is collected from these surf shops, it is recycled and reprocessed for use in new products, such as recycled surf blanks.

Nike Reuse-A-Shoe

Many of us go through a pair, or two, of running shoes each year and are left wondering if there’s another way to dispose of them besides putting them in your trash can. Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program allows you to recycle your old athletic shoes by dropping them off at a participating Nike store. Collected shoes are then shipped to a recycling facility where they are sorted and processed into 3 raw materials: rubber, foam, and fabric fibers. This recycled material is used to create new athletic surfaces such as tracks or is used in new shoes and apparel. Nike collects about 1.5 million pairs of shoes every year and has collected 28 million pairs since 1990 through the program.

To learn about other unique recycling programs right here in San Diego, visit WasteFreeSD.org.