University of Bristol Partnership with JogOn: Redistributing unwanted trainers to those who need footwear

Author: Olivia Farrell, Sport, Exercise and Health (SEH-comms@bristol.ac.uk)

Partnership with JogOn 

The University of Bristol’s Sport, Exercise and Health (SEH) team recently launched a partnership with JogOn, an organisation aiming to remove 1 million running shoes from landfill. According to experts, running shoes can take 1000 years to break down in landfill, and many are marketed as only lasting for a few hundred miles. Instead, JogOn redistributes these to people who can benefit from them.

As part of this sustainable initiative, SEH are providing collection points for people to deposit their old shoes across three University sport facilities. All you need to do is tie the pair of shoes together using the shoelaces and drop them into the boxes for collection.

JogOn logo

 

Where do the shoes go?

  • Some go to charities (e.g. UK based refugee charities)
  • Some to NGOs (targeting poor foot health as a factor in other issues)
  • Some go to 11 microeconomy hubs around the world – where local groups can resell in local economy
  • End-of-life trainers will go for shredding to then be used in other things (pathways, play areas, etc.) – out of the 2000 pairs they have collected, fewer than 12 were unusable for anything else

Photograph of trainers

 

Where are the collection points?

  • Indoor Sports Centre
  • Coombe Dingle Sports Complex
  • Richmond Building Pool

Photograph of drop-off point for trainers

 

Bristol Run Series 

Good physical and mental health means knowing what works best for you and building healthy habits into your life. Physical exercise is a proven way to release endorphins and boost your wellbeing.

The Bristol Run Series offers our staff, students and alumni a fun, accessible and affordable way to get into running as part of a community.  Plus, as part of the Run Series, University staff, students and alumni can get discounted entry to the Great Bristol Run on 25 September – sign up here for staff discount. This is also a great opportunity to raise money for a good cause – perhaps one which tackles poverty and inequality – through sponsorship. Last year the Run Series raised over £1800 for their selected charities Healthy Minds and NHS Charities Together, and participants are also welcome to fundraise for a charity of their choice.

 

For more information, please email: SEH-comms@bristol.ac.uk