Better Bins at Confluence Running: How Our Shoe Recycling Program Started
Originally published February 2025. Updated September 2026.
In 2025, Confluence Running began working with Sneaker Impact to bring Better Bins into our stores and give customers a simple place to return used athletic footwear and fitness apparel.
Why we added Better Bins
Running shoes eventually reach the point where they are no longer the pair you want for your daily miles. The question is what happens next. We wanted a convenient local option that could keep eligible gear out of ordinary trash and route it into a program built around sorting, reuse, recycling, and repurposing pathways.
What the partnership changed in our stores
Easy drop-off
Customers have a visible place to bring used athletic footwear and fitness apparel during a normal store visit.
Consistent collection
Our stores consolidate donated items and prepare shipments through the Sneaker Impact program.
Trackable impact
Shipment reports give us concrete program data that we can share back with our communities.
Where the program stands now
Through September 2026, Confluence Running communities have collected 711 pairs of shoes during 2026. Our latest reported shipment included 21 pairs. Sneaker Impact reported 239 kg COâ‚‚e of impact and 32 pounds diverted from landfill for that shipment.
Those figures come from Sneaker Impact shipment reporting. We use their reporting rather than creating our own environmental estimates.
How to participate
Bring eligible athletic footwear or fitness apparel to a participating Confluence Running location. You can see the current accepted-item guide, drop-off locations, and the latest impact information on our Better Bins and Sustainability pages.
See the Better Bins donation guide →
Visit the Confluence Running Sustainability hub →
A practical approach to sustainability
We want sustainability language to be useful rather than vague. For this program, that means explaining what customers can do, identifying who provides the impact figures, and updating the numbers as new shipment reports arrive.
Have an old pair ready to go?
Bring it with you on your next store visit. Each drop-off is small on its own, but together those pairs become a measurable community effort.
Find a Confluence Running location  · Read sustainability updates
