It’s that Crocs buying time of the year again – when little feet cry out for fresh air and we parents head out to buy a new bigger sized pair of Crocs for our little darlings who love them so much!
But what do you do with the pair your child outgrew? If you’re like me, I couldn’t bare to throw them in the rubbish. Maybe I should place them with the recycling, but close examination revealed there isn’t a plastics recycling number on them, that's because Crocs are made from Croslite, a closed cell resin material which is NOT plastic NOR rubber. So what do I do with this material?
A quick “recycle crocs” Internet search revealed the Croc’s company launched a recycling program in early 2008 called SolesUnited. However, it didn’t tell me a lot. I called Crocs to find out more. To my pleasure, a very well informed customer service representative was able to tell me where I could I send our old Crocs, and even a little more about the initiative: SolesUnited is a first of its kind program created in response to the desperate need for quality footwear in impoverished countries and areas affected by tragedy. Combining environmental and humanitarian efforts, Crocs Inc are collecting, regrinding, and remolding (your) old Crocs into new shoes and donating these to people in need of shoes around the world.
I have to say it was a little difficult to navigate their web site to find the “find a participating retailer near you” tab which allows you to find a link to Crocs retailers that may have recycling bins.
You can also send them directly to one of Crocs two main recycling centers (listed below) or take them to a Crocs kiosk.
Crocs recycling - west
3375 Enterprise Ave.
Bloomington, CA 92316
Crocs recycling - east
1500 Commodity Blvd.
Lockbourne, OH 43137
Make a commitment to turn in your pair of Crocs so they can be recycled into a brand new pair which will be donated to people in need around the world.