We wear them on our feet but then what do we do when their work is done?

Although there are a lot of places that will accept gently used shoes, your beat-up Nikes or Toms may be harder to find a new home. Shoes can be pretty tricky to recycle because a lot of programs lean towards donation and reuse.

No fear, dear readers. One of our new fav markets has an expansive recycling center. We’ll also share a few places that you can drop off gently-worn shoes.

Where to Recycle Old Shoes

If your shoes are unwearable, MOMs Organic Market accepts and recycles old shoes. MOMS takes “both new and worn-out/unwearable shoes including sneakers, sandals, and other footwear” and ask if they have laces, to tie them together to make it easy-peasy.

If you want to donate shoes that are wearable:

• Donate them to a local thrift shop like Philly Aids Thrift
• Consign them to a local shop like Greene Street.
• Soles4Souls will accept up to 15 pairs of gently worn shoes – and you can ship them (thanks to Zappos!) for free. This is an ideal locale if you’re not in a walkable area/nearby one of the above locations. Find out more info on their website.

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher