Adidas Partners with Conservationists to Create Shoes Made out of Ocean Trash

Sports retailer Adidas recently teamed up with a conservation organization called Parley for the Oceans to put the ocean's overwhelming amount of trash to good use. In a world's first prototype, the two groups created a shoe whose upper construction was harvested from ocean plastic and illegal deep-sea gillnets. A Parley ally, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, collected the materials while on a 110-day expedition to track an outlawed poaching vessel off the coast of West Africa.

You'd never guess that the stylish shoe was made of ocean refuge, and the collaboration proves that fashion can come from eco-friendly and sustainable sources. “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,” Parley founder Cyrill Gutsch said during a presentation about the project.

While it's uncertain if this shoe will ever be for sale, its creation marks a new beginning for Adidas. The company will start incorporating recycled plastic into its footwear by early next year.

Materials collected by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Adidas: Website
Parley for the Oceans: Website

via [Good, The Huffington PostPR Newser]

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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