When I got married, I made it a point to make the entire ordeal as green as possible.  Organic flowers, food from a local farm, organic cotton wedding dress, the works. As far as the wedding favors went, it was a toss-up between tulip bulbs and charity donations in the guests’ names.  As I was researching charities, I came across a lot of organizations whose practices were charitable as well as green, by using the second “R” (reuse) in charitable ways. One such charity was one I couldn’t quite contribute to in someone else’s name, but I found very interesting:

Nike Reuse a Shoe:

Collects worn-out athletic shoes of any brand from a variety of sources, including end of life shoes collected through a variety of recycling programs, special events and at Nike or other stores, shoes that are returned from retailers due to a material flaw and even counterfeit shoes.

The shoe material is then used in the creation of sports surfacing product ranges – basketball and tennis courts, running tracks, soccer fields, fitness flooring and playground safety surfacing. Below are some examples on how far a pair of recycled shoes can go:

• Outdoor basketball court: 2,500 pairs
• Outdoor tennis court:2,500 pairs
• Full Field or soccer pitch: 50,000 - 75,000 pairs
• Mini soccer field: 10,000-20,000 pairs
• Running track: 75,000 pairs*
• Playground: 2,500 pairs
• Indoor basketball court: 2,500 pairs
• Indoor synthetic basketball court: 2,500 pairs

To read more about the Reuse a Shoe Program: http://www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe/

I’m not the sentimental type and the last thing I want to do is force my potential future daughter to wear my wedding dress, which, no matter how beautiful it is to me now, will no doubt be out of fashion in 20 years.  So I opted to give away my dress to an organization called Brides Against Breast Cancer. This organization takes donated wedding dresses, sells them off at affordable prices, and uses the money made to grant the wishes of people losing their battle with breast cancer. One woman’s wish was to visit Colorado.  The organization not only flew her to Colorado with money made, but paid for her and her family to raft the Colorado River, stay at a hot springs, and experience things that are uniquely Colorado such as wagon rides in the mountains and alpine slides. This isn’t an environmental organization, but it’s a good way to recycle your wedding dress and allow someone to reuse it, all for a good cause. To learn more, visit www.bridesagainstbreastcancer.org

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Filed under: Green Living, Recycling & Waste Management, Women's Eco-Impact