Three sneaker brands are prioritizing sustainability with their green options.
Puma collaborated with recycling company First Mile, to create a collection of shoes and apparel made from recycled polyester yarn.
First Mile is a people-focused network that strengthens micro-economies in Taiwan, Honduras and Haiti by collecting plastic bottles to create jobs and reduce pollution. The bottles are sorted, cleaned, shredded and turned into yarn.
Key benefit of this partnership is social impact. The Puma X First Mile programme has diverted over 40 tonnes of plastic waste from landfills and oceans, for the products made for 2020. That is, roughly 1,980,286 plastic bottles being reused.
Converse is also reforming plastic waste through its initiative Renew. Innovating more sustainable ways of creating its much-loved, iconic Chucks. Renew Canvas is made from 100 per cent recycled polyester from used plastic bottles while Renew Denim includes upcycled textiles that are crafted into the uppers of the Chuck Taylor and Chuck 70.
Renew Cotton launched a new process that incorporates 40 per cent recycled cotton canvas scraps from footwear manufacturing, to generate a yarn that then becomes the raw fabric of the renewed canvas upper.
Shoe company Veja has aimed to make shoe production ethical and more eco-friendly since its very inception 14 years ago. Organic cotton is sourced directly from farmers in Brazil and Peru while wild rubber is harvested by a cooperative of small farmers in the Amazon.
Veja is experimenting with alternative materials such as tilapia skin and silk. They use chrome-free suedes and leathers. The V-10 sneakers with black details have a chunky outsole made of wild rubber from the Amazonian rainforest. The vegetable-tanned leather undergoes an innovative tanning process, which does not use heavy, hazardous metals or acids.
References:
Verve magazine
