Adidas turns illegal ocean garbage into new line of shoe
Digital Reporter
Monday, July 6, 2015, 4:40 PM - From sea to street -- one shoe enthusiast's trash is another shoe enthusiast's treasure.
This week, footwear and clothing manufacturer Adidas showed off the world's first sneaker made almost entirely from recycled ocean waste.
The specialty shoe was unveiled at the United Nations headquarters in New York City as a collaborative project between the German sportswear brand and Parley for the Oceans, an organization that undertakes projects to raise awareness and protect the word's oceans.
The upper portion of the green and white shoe is made entirely from recycled ocean waste and illegal deep-sea gillnets.
RELATED: Study suggests 8 million metric tonnes of plastic are entering oceans each year
In December 2014, Parley partner Sea Shepherd removed over 72 kilometres of illegal gillnets from the southern Atlantic Ocean, after he spent weeks tracking an illegal poaching vessel, which was eventually caught off the coast of West Africa.
In six days, designers were able to transform these nets into a new and market-ready piece of footwear.
Photo courtesy of Parley for the Oceans Facebook page.
Photo courtesy of Parley for the Oceans Facebook page.
The eco-sneaker does not yet have a name, and will likely look much different when it finally hits store shelves in the future.
Adidas and Parley for the Oceans plan to release a line of consumer-ready products made from ocean plastics later this year.
"We are extremely proud that Adidas is joining us in this mission and is putting its creative force behind this partnership to show that it is possible to turn ocean plastic into something cool," said Parley for the Oceans founder Cyrill Gutsch in a statement.
Adidas and Parley for the Oceans announced their partnership earlier this year. Shortly after, Adidas claimed it would phase out the use of plastic bags in all of their retail stores.
