Running shoes can go the distance but the truth is that most shoes are deemed “dead” before they’re exactly falling apart. This is because it is a good idea to replace shoes long before they reach that state. The problem is that the synthetic materials used to make many shoes can last a long time. Now that’s good when you’re using them, but bad once they’re past the “use by” date.
Currently, there aren’t exactly recycle bins for old running shoes. So instead when the shoes are done, they end up in landfills. The way many of these are built they could be dug by some future garbage-archeologist. One solution is from Brooks Sports with its $100 “Green Silence” shoes, which are designed to break down in a landfill. The process is still more of a distance race than a sprint, and takes 20 years, but that’s a far cry from the marathon pace of many traditional running shoes. Continue reading Run Into the Ground in a Good Way