Recycle: Turn in your old athletic shoes, any brand, to Nike's Reuse-A-Shoe program so they can be ground up into new material and used in a different way to make new sports surfaces like soccer and football fields, basketball and tennis courts, tracks and playground surfacing.

Recycle: Recycle your old Crocs and they will be shredded to make padding for children's playgrounds. Mail them to: Crocs 1510 Nelson Road, Longmont, CO 80501 and clearly mark the outside of the package with "RECYCLE!"

Donate: Soles4Souls is a nonprofit organization that collects gently worn shoes and then distributes them worldwide to those in need. Recently more than 900,000 pairs of shoes were collected in a coordinated relief effort for donation to victims of the Asian Tsunami, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. So round up those shoes that are taking up space in your closet, bind each pair together with a rubber band, and send them to one of Soles4Soul's two warehouse facilities.