From last year’s concept, to the 3-D printed follow-up, Adidas and Parley for the Ocean have shown us their fair share of cool shoes made from ocean waste. The first two concepts were made from illegal deep-sea gill nets, and now you can finally buy the latest rendition for $200. The Adidas UltraBOOST Uncaged Parley is now the first mass produced shoe made of recycled materials – more specifically, 95% of the shoe is made from recycled plastic picked off the beaches of the Maldives. That’s right, the Maldives. On your feet.
Initially, only 7,000 pairs will be available for purchase, starting mid-November. So these will be a fairly exclusive set of kicks. But assuming all goes to plan, this whole recycled shoes phenomenon should kick up a bit pretty soon. Adidas plans to recycle 11 million plastic bottles in 2017, coinciding with the one million pairs of UltraBOOSTs they’ll manufacture.
“In 2017, we are going to produce a million pairs of shoes from Parley ocean plastic. The goal of adidas is to completely remove purely synthetic materials from our supply chain,” said Eric Liedtke, adidas Group executive board member responsible for global brands. “We will recycle the bottles and turn them into high-quality sports apparel.”
And the effort isn’t exclusive to the shoes. The company is also introducing an Ocean Plastics jersey series, starting with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich soccer jerseys that will be worn by the teams later this month.
“At this point, it’s no longer just about raising awareness. It’s about taking action and implementing strategies that can end the cycle of plastic pollution for good,” says Cyrill Gutsch, Founder, Parley for the Oceans said in a statement.
So there it is. No concepts and flashy products simply made for marketing. Name brand apparel pulled off of beaches and from the ocean is a real thing now, not just a gimmick.
You can buy the new shoes here. They don’t look too shabby.
