REUSE-A-SHOE CAMPAIGN A HUGE SUCCESS 

Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced today that more than 22,000 shoes will be recycled as a result of the 2009 Reuse-A-Shoe recycling campaign.

“For the first time, we involved the neighbor island counties in the Reuse-A-Shoe campaign.  I spoke to my colleagues in the Hawaii Council of Mayors, Mayor Charmaine Tavares of Maui County, Mayor Bernard Carvalho of Kauai County, and Mayor Billy Kenoi of Hawaii County.and invited them to take part, and I’m grateful for their participation and cooperation. We could not have been so successful without it.”  Hannemann said.  “Together, more than 20-thousand shoes that would have taken up space in our counties’ landfills will instead be shredded and used as play court material and other products made from this recyclable material.”

The City & County of Honolulu first partnered with Nike in the Reuse-A-Shoe drive in 2005.

“Every year, participation on Oahu has grown.  I expect we’ll see the same on the neighbor islands in the years to come,” Hannemann said.  “It’s great to have taken this concept statewide and we look forward to continuing the Reuse-A-Shoe effort at Honolulu Hale and on the neighbor islands again next year.”

Shoes were collected in bins at local schools, fire stations, and at other city facilities.  Mayor Hannemann and Honolulu Fire Chief Ken Silva delivered a fire truck-load of used shoes yesterday to the drop-off at Niketown in Waikiki.

The numbers are still being tabulated as last minute recycled shoes arrive.  To date, Oahu had 19, 867 shoes.  Kauai added approximately 1,000, and Maui and the Big Island are reporting more than 1,500.

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