Repurposing Ocean Trash into Shoes
The pollution of our oceans is a major concern amongst society. Many companies are on a mission to collect trash from the water and recycle it into useable items. For example, Parley for the Oceans has recently partnered with Adidas to repurpose fishing nets and other ocean trash into running shoes.
“Adidas is releasing fifty pairs of the sneaker, a shoe composed of more than 16 old plastic bottles and 13 grams of gill nets.This limited number of pairs is due to the difficult task of taking the collected trash and spinning it into fiber suitable for high performance shoes. Plastic bottles are relatively easy to transform into a useable material, but when it comes to the gill nets (which emit the smell of rotting fish) the task is a bit more difficult. Not only is the smell difficult to scrub from the nets, but the nylon is extra tough and requires being ground into a powder before it can be reformed into a material fit for the Adidas sneaker.”
Although there is only a limited amount of Adidas shoes that will be made, Parley is actively working with other companies to create change.
“Parley partners with small countries that have large ties to marine pollution—locations like the Maldives, Grenada, and Jamaica. After partnering, Parley team members help clean up fisheries and other oceanside spots while teaching locals alternatives to using plastic in their businesses. The materials collected by Parley are then distributed not only to Adidas, but also institutions such as Parsons School of Design, which might help change the way new generations of designers think about incorporating these materials into future designs.”
Repurposing materials will be very important for the future of our planet and we are excited to see a shift towards this trend for the future of fashion!
Source: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2016/06/discarded-fishing-nets-and-other-ocean-trash-shoes/