Fitness fans are constantly told to replace their workout shoes in a timely manner. But after your pair of trusty friends are worn out, they often end up in a landfill -- for too many years. If your midsole is made from traditional Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), you're looking at possibly 1,000 years in a landfill before a pair breaks down. That's one large carbon footprint.

Good news arrives today on two fronts. Not only is it Earth Day -- claps and cheers for our Mother Earth -- I also just discovered Brooks running shoes is launching a revolutionary new midsole which biodegrades 50 times faster than EVA.

Named BioMoGo, Brooks has transformed their original long-lasting MoGo midsole to be more environmentally friendly. They added a non-toxic, natural additive to speed up the anaerobic microbe munch rate once the shoe finds its final resting space in a landfill. BioMoGo soles can biodegrade into reusable byproducts within 20 years, which Brooks alone estimates will save 29.9 millions pounds of landfill waste over 20 years. BioMoGo will initially be available July 2008 in their Trance 8 shoe, with all MoGo midsole performance shoes featuring the new technology by year-end 2009.

I'm impressed with Brooks' environmental stewardship on many fronts. From incorporating natural compounds, using greener manufacturing processes and even redesigning their 2008 shoe box to be fully biodegradable, they are serious about reducing their corporate carbon footprint. Makes this greenie wanna wear their shoes. Pic from brooksrunning.com.