Got some old kicks in need of a new home - or proper recycling? Runner’s Need have a new campaign that might help. Give those old shoes a new home. Or at least get them recycled. Got some old kicks in need of a new home - or proper recycling? It’s a commonly asked question - when your running shoes have lost their spring, and you need a new pair, what do you do with the old ones? Of course, you can just keep them for doing gardening, or other messy activities, in. But if you don’t have the space, then you’ll probably want to either recycle or pass them on. Certainly, being a virtuous (but never smug) Guardian reader, you wouldn’t think of sending them to landfill, would you? Depending on their condition - and their stock levels - your local charity shops may accept them. If they (the shoes, not the runners) are still in good nick then female runners could donate to A Mile In Her Shoes, who also always need good quality running clothing. But if you fancy donating or recyling an old pair, and quite like the idea of getting something back in return, then head to Runners Need.

Their #recyclemyrun campaign has just launched, and anyone bringing in a pair of old trainers will get a £20 voucher off their next pair in return. The campaign is running for a month, until November 2016, but it’s worth pointing out that the actual recycling/donating facility will stay in stores so you can always drop off your old pairs there. Donated shoes will be collected by the European Recycling Company (ERC) - ones in good condition will be sent on to countries with a need for affordable footwear, and those too far gone will be recycled. Runners not in the UK - sorry! - but please feel free to share local info on where you recycle or donate your own shoes below the line.SHARE THE FEELING TWO FOR ONE BAREFOOT BUNDLE* Thank you for your submission. If necessary, somebody will contact you shortly.Travelling on foot might well leave behind a lighter carbon footprint than other ways of getting around. But with just a few simple tweaks to your training and racing routine it’s easy to become an even greener runner.

Over 1.5 million tonnes of textiles and 100 million pairs of shoes are thrown away every year in the UK. Most of them turn up in landfill sites, so give your worn-out kit a longer lease of life. Over half of the textiles Brits throw away could be recycled – but we only recycle or reuse a measly 14 per cent of this. Drop your old running gear off at one of Britain’s 6,000 textile banks and you can walk away happy knowing that it’s got another useful life ahead of it. Clothes that are too tatty to be worn again are shredded before being made into new items such as dusters, padding and cloths used in factories. Take race T-shirts and other kit in good condition to jumble sales, charity shops or car-boot sales – or donate them to a novice runner. You could turn cotton race T-shirts into cleaning cloths, covers, fancy dress costumes, pyjamas or even a patchwork memento of your racing success. Shoes with traditional EVA midsoles can linger in landfill for up to 1,000 years before they degrade, so make sure yours get a new lease of life.

The Variety Club children’s charity has 3,000 shoe recycling sites throughout the UK, mostly in supermarket car parks and in some specialist shoe shops, such as Up & Running. sale nike purple running shoesOr help Nike give old trainers another sporting life as basketball courts, tennis courts, running tracks and children’s playgrounds. nike shoes shop nz Textile production can hog scarce resources, so opt for bamboo-fibre technical tops and socks. best shoes for everyday walkingBamboo shoots up quickly, and doesn’t need pesticides or nearly as much water as thirsty cotton crops. running shoes weight speed

And when you’re done, bamboo fibre is biodegradable and free of nasty chemical pollutants. You drag your kit through all weathers, dumping sweat and mud on its hard-working fabric. womens nike hi top trainers ukSo it’s even more important that runners make their bigger laundry load work hard for the environment. running shoes for high jumpNext time you load the washing machine, turn it down – washing clothes at 30ºC is good enough for all but the muddiest kit. Or try replacing chemical detergents for Ecoballs, reusable washing balls that work out at a bargain 3p per wash. Take a trip to a health food shop and stock up – it’s easy to make your own running-ready snacks with these back-to-basics recipes from former RW Nutrition Editor Anita Bean. To make the perfect isotonic drink, mix 500ml of fruit juice with 500ml of water and 0.5g (one eighth of a teaspoon) of salt, or 200ml of squash (organic or without artificial sweeteners and additives) with 800ml of water and 0.5g (one eighth of a teaspoon) of salt.

Both these options make one litre of isotonic drink, and contain around 6g of carbohydrate per 100ml - the ideal concentration for rapid fluid absorption. Adding a little salt (sodium) encourages you to drink more during a run and helps your body to retain, rather than excrete, fluid when you stop exercising. Whip up your own energy bars with this simple recipe. Each bar is virtually fat-free, easy to digest and supplies 30g of carbohydrate - enough to fuel 30-60 minutes of hard running. Combine 175g oats, 85g muesli and dried fruit together in a bowl. Warm 3tbsp of honey in a small saucepan until it becomes runny, then add it to the oat mix. Stir in 150g dried fruit (such as raisins, dates, apricots, figs, apple, pineapple), two egg whites and 175ml apple juice. Press the mixture into a lightly-oiled 18x28cm baking tin. Bake at 180ºC for 20-25 minutes until golden. Allow to cool slightly then cut into bars. Honey is a natural, cheap and effective alternative to energy gels.

One heaped teaspoon provides 13g of carbohydrate - enough to fuel 20 minutes of running. Use runny honey in plastic tubes or cut honeycomb - available from health food stores - into slices and wrap it in foil. And as a bonus on top of its high carb content, honey is also packed with vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants. Race organisers are always looking at ways to lower their impact on the local environment - here are a couple of easy ways you can lighten your racing carbon footprint too. Entering races online not only saves you time and hassle, it also helps prevent thousands of registration forms from going unused. When you pop your next race in the diary, have a think about how you – and hundreds or even thousands of other entrants – will get there. Save on petrol costs and carbon emissions by using public transport if possible, or by organising shared transport with friends or running club mates. , a directory of UK car sharing sites. Packaging currently makes up around 18 to 20 per cent of the average Briton’s household waste, so reduce and recycle the packaging you consume to be kinder to the environment.

It could even save you money. Buy energy drinks in powdered form. It comes in much smaller packaging relative to the amount of drink you’ll end up with, making it more eco-friendly to transport and saving you the trouble of recycling hundreds of plastic bottles. Plastic – not fantastic Plastic bottles and bags made using oil can also take hundreds of years to degrade. Swap plastic bottles for a reusable one. And of course, it goes without saying that if you're using gels or bottles on a long run, take them home with you. If, despite your best efforts, your favourite routes are still scattered with other people’s litter, try eco-running. It’s a new craze direct from the US, combining running and helping the environment, and don’t worry – you won’t need pricey new kit. All you need to call yourself an eco-runner is a rubbish bag (biodegradable, of course). Just take a bag on your runs and pick up all the litter you see along the way. The average household wastes £30 a year simply by leaving appliances on standby.

If a charger or power pack is warm or has a light on, it's probably using power. Save electricity – and money – by popping your GPS charger or MP3 player into a timer socket. You can make sure it’ll always have enough power to last through your next training session, without it using up needless electricity. Or, if you’ve already turned your computer on, plug your device in there rather than a wall socket. While most wall sockets are only 30-40 per cent efficient and leak energy as your device charges, firewire and USB cables have an efficiency rating of 85 per cent. They’ll even charge faster. SIGN UP TO RECIVE MEN'S HEALTH NEWSLETTERS Our daily email delivers everything you need to improve your life, every weekday evening at 5pm We sift through all the day's new research and studies to reveal the simple lifestyle tweaks that will boost your health Workouts and recipes from the best trainers and nutritionists in the world Daily fitness challenges, culture picks and everything else you need to make the most of your downtime