Sat May 4, 2013
Read the original story from Lee's Summit Tribune
USAgain, the Chicago-based textile recycling company, is partnering with Warrior Dash, world’s largest obstacle race series, which came to the Kansas City area on April 27 and 28.
Warrior Dash participants were encouraged to bring surplus shoes from home to recycle at the USAgain tent near the finish line, as well as their muddy post-race shoes. The goal is the give shoes a second life and divert harmful waste from landfills.
"For shoes of Warrior Dash participants, it’s one and done," said Mattias Wallander, CEO of USAgain. "Many participants would rather just get rid of their shoes instead of bringing them back home and trying to clean them. USAgain offers participants a convenient option to have these items recycled rather than throwing them into the trash and getting buried in a landfill."
USAgain will also make a $500 per race donation to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital on behalf of Warrior Dash.
Warrior Dash is a 5-6 kilometer obstacle mud run with 6,000-8,000 runners per event, and as many as 16,000 in a single weekend. The weekend’s event in Kansas City was a two day event, with races held on Saturday and Sunday. Platte Ridge Park, located about 30 miles northwest of Kansas City in Platte City, MO, is hosting the event.
USAgain has already collected thousands of pairs of shoes at races held throughout the country. USAgain will continue to collect and recycle shoes from all Warrior Dash events in the contiguous U.S. this year.
According to data from Recyclebank, approximately 300 million pairs of shoes are landfilled annually. At the very least, a landfilled shoe takes 50 years to break down, and it’s often much longer than that (hundreds or thousands of years). Every shoe diverted from landfills reduces carbon emissions, saves landfill space and keeps communities cleaner and greener.
