Adidas Creates A Shoes From Ocean Garbage — Almost

by Monica Joshi

What to do with all that ocean waste? Some people thought that we should deposit garbage, in general, into outer space. Others like Adidas decided to make a shoe.

The athletic outfitter company announced last week that it had created an initial prototype for an eco-beneficial shoe. The shoe will be made almost entirely from recycled garbage reclaimed from the ocean. According to the company, the shoe consists of illegal deep-sea gillnets, ocean waste, and sustainable cushioning material.

So, it's not just an eco-friendly, eco-progressive shoe, but also a shoe with taboo elements. A statement piece indeed.

The trash that was used to create the shoe was collected by project collaborator The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society while on a 110-day tracking mission to monitor an illegal poaching vessel off the coast of West Africa. The green fishing nets used in the expedition were also incorporated into the shoe.

The eco-progressive shoes are born of a recent partnership between Adidas and Parley for the Oceans, an environmental organization aiming to stop refuse pollution of the world’s oceans.

Parley founder Cyrill Gutsch said:

“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.”

As we know with Adidas, the shoe won't be cheap, but at least it will be a piece de resistance... er... or not since unfortunately, the pair isn't for sale; it never will be.

An Adidas spokeswoman said:

“This is not a plan, this is an action. We did this to show what we are capable of doing when we all put our heads together.”

The shoe company, however, will start to introduce recycled plastic into the manufacturing of its shoes by early 2016. Safe to say the fish thank you, for now, at least in some part of the ocean for that one pair of shoes.

Photo Credit: anantachat/Shutterstock