Movmt Recycled & Organic Cotton Shoes
This brand stands for the reduction of single-use plastic, and to that end, they create eco-hip accessories and footwear made from upcycled, recycled, and sustainable materials. MOVMT also supports eco-minded organizations such as 5 Gyres, which works hard at reducing oceanic plastic waste. The upcycled plastic used by MOVMT comes from bags cleaned from the ocean in Bali.
MOVMT has a small selection of shoes that sport a minimalist yet refined design. They are comfortable and vegan knit with rubber bottoms that offer you the best support for long days spent on your feet.
Our Pick: Blake Black A quality, specialty cushioned footbed in these shoes makes them performance ready, and they also provide a lot of comfort.
Converse Renew Recycled Chucks
Converse is doing its part toward a more eco-friendly future for fashion, too. The brands famous sneakers are available in the Converse Renew line, which are still as stylish as their other lines, but instead feature translucent midsoles and flecked outsoles. While recycled rubber is the main material used here , there are other recycled materials used as well, including plastic.
Converse has an impressive amount of footwear available for women, men, and kids. There are sneakers for skateboarding, basketball, high tops, low tops, and shoes made custom to order. In terms of color, there is a veritable rainbow for you to choose from.
Our Pick: Chuck 70 Marketed as being Converses most sustainable sneaker yet, this shoe made from recycled materials is as trendy as it is comfortable. They are available in two different summer inspired colors and would make the perfect addition to a warm weather wardrobe.
Adidas And Stella Mccartney
Adidas, together with designer Stella McCartney, are producing sneakers that use 75 percent recycled plastic, that would have ended up in the ocean. Adidas Primeknit technology uses knitting technology to knit the upper of the shoe in one piece.
There is no waste, as the one shoe is finished, the knitting machine continues with the same yearn to knit the next shoe. This results in a shoe that adapts to your feet as you run.
We can all start by saving the planet one shoe at a time!
The collaboration between Adidas and Stella McCartney has resulted in a range of eco conscious shoes and sportswear. This is where you can purchase your pair. The fabric for sportswear is made from 85% recycled polyester and 15% elastane.
Discover more about Adidas and Reebok and other eco sustainable footwear in this post on Eco Shoe Brands: Sneakers with a Green Soul.
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Rothys: Shoes Made From Plastic Bottles
Rothys have risen to popularity not necessarily for their inventive materials, but rather for their fit. People rave about how comfortable, flexible, and breathable the shoes are.
Knowing this, you might be surprised to find out that they are shoes made from recycled plastic bottles. Over time, theyve diverted millions of bottles from landfills, giving them a second life in their shoes.
They also use:
- Algae-based foam, which makes for a comfortable insert but uses excess algae that has been removed from waterways, helping restore balance to the ecosystems.
- Natural rubber, which is renewable and biodegradable.
- Bio-based TPU, made from corn yet flexible and durable, can provide great traction.
We could go on all day about their sustainable materials. They also use natural minerals, castor beans, hemp fiber, and merino wool. Rothys even delivers the shoes in recycled packaging.
Youll pay something in the $100 to $200 range, which is a bit pricey for most people. However, the price makes sense when you consider the innovation and quality that goes into the shoe.
Brands That Make Shoes With Recycled Materials:
Gone are the days when finding a recycled shoe or an ethical shoe brand used to be hard. These days both, well renowned and new brands are coming up with sustainable and environmentally friendly shoes. The pollution caused by plastic and several other toxic materials is now a global crisis.
According to the non-profit Surfers Against Sewage, the worlds population of over 7 billion people consumes more than 320 million tonnes of plastic per year which is a horrifying statistic. Choosing to buy from a recycled shoe brand that is actively working to solve the problem of plastic waste helps to develop a market for recycled plastic shoes. Here are a few creative and ethical shoe brands that make interesting shoes out of recyclable materials.
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Movmt Recycled And Organic Cotton Shoes
The Peoples Movement is another socially conscious company that was founded by a surfer who couldnt stand the amount of pollution he was seeing in the ocean.
MOVMT makes their cool shoes with recycled plastic and other eco-friendly materials like organic cotton canvas. The result: stylish shoes that are casual and comfortable.
Heres CEO Kevin Flanagan talking about the mission behind the Peoples Movement:
Wait Theres A Catch: Microplastics And Microfibers
When modern society comes up with technological solutions to our problems, we sometimes introduce unintended consequences . When we use recycled plastic in our clothing, we create some serious negative externalities in the form of microplastics.
Microplastics are, simply, pieces of plastic that are less than 5 mm in diameter, or about the size of a sesame seed and often much smaller, potentially microscopic. In the past, humans introduced microplastics into the environment indirectly. Namely from larger plastic waste degrading over time.
In recent years studies have shown that when consumers wash products made of recycled material, the clothing sheds microscopic fibers. These fibers can easily pass through water filtration systems and end up in waterways and, ultimately, the ocean.
Scientists find microplastics literally everywhere on Earth floating in the oceans, inside animals, and yes, even inside you!
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Shishas In Sustainable E
The Swiss company Toff Drehteile AG manufactures water pipes under the label toff design shishas. To ensure that these arrive atreach the customer without scratches and damage, the family business relies on a new, sustainable e-commerce packaging. The material-optimized solution was developed and produced by DS Smith.The unusual design consists of a lower and an upper open corrugated board inlay. The inlays securely fix the delicate shishas in the packaging, but without additional filler materials. An unboxing experience is also included for many customers. Because the first thing the customer sees after opening the box is his or her individually produced water pipe in contrast to the natural corrugated cardboard.Smoking pleasure is promised by toff design shishas with its purist, functional design water pipes. The shishas are also individually manufactured at the headquarters of the family business at the request of customers requests. Fabian Toff, Managing Director of toff design shishas emphasizes: For online shipping, we were looking for packaging that would reliably protect our sensitive premium products in transit and at the same time stage the unpacking process as an emotional moment. In addition, the solution had to be sustainable and space-saving to store.
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Saolo Recycled And Vegan Shoes
Saolo makes cool streetwear-style shoes out of recycled materials, organic cotton, and get this harvested algae. The company designs their recycled shoes to be comfortable and lightweight. Plus, they add extra cushioning with sustainable cork insoles. Every pair of their shoes keeps 3-4 plastic bottles out of the landfill and ocean. Saolos shoes are also 100% vegan.
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Ethics Of The Footwear Industry
Many shoes on the market are produced by factories in countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh where labor laws are rarely enforced. Workers are exposed to poor working conditions and work long hours for low wages.
Yet many fashion brands continue to evade responsibility for what happens further down their supply chain. Thats why we love to support ethical or certified fair trade companies who support their workers and the environment.
Upcycling And Diy Projects
Most of the recycling programs would be considered downcycling, yet that are ways that you can upcycle your shoes via a few DIY projects.
A popular upcycle idea is using old shoes as planters. Adding rocks or gravel to the bottom will help with drainage. Alternatively, holes could be drilled in the bottom of the shoe to allow the water to run out. Succulents are a favorite, but other plants can be used as well.
A search will yield hundreds of ideas on how to repurpose and upcycle shoes. A makeover could have your shoes looking brand new or even like a completely different pair. You have the option to make objects such as jewelry racks or birdhouses with unwanted shoes. It is also possible to make purses, wallets, or journals from the leather on an old pair of boots.
Perhaps one day, every shoe will be biodegradable. Until then, these are the best options available to prevent waste.
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The 5 Best Recycled Shoe Brands For Eco
What do you look for in shoes? Brand, aesthetic, or comfort? Regardless, its important to know the impact of your purchase and the sustainable choices available to you. We all know that the fashion industry and its fast fashion is bad for the environment but one aspect we dont think about is footwear. Footwear accounts for 16% to 32% of the fashion industrys total pollution and it wreaks havoc on the planet in different ways. This guide will explore the impact of footwear and feature a list of shoes made from recycled materials.
This post does contain some affiliate links which means The Honest Consumer will receive a commission if you decided to purchase. Our commission is at no additional expense to you!
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Why Choose Recycled Shoes
The quantity of each persons contribution to the environment is enormous, and when people understood this, the process of recycling footwear began. The whole point of recycled shoes is to reduce pollution in the environment by avoiding the generation of materials. There are numerous advantages to upgrading from traditional to more environmentally friendly shoes and sustainable sneakers.
Environmentally friendly shoes or recycled plastic shoes and those constructed of sustainable resources are simple to compost and degrade. Even if they are disposed of in a landfill, they will not pollute the environment or harm the soil in any manner.
People frequently question whether recycled shoes and environmentally friendly shoes will last longer. Yes, because sustainable sneakers are made from environmentally friendly materials which are high-quality and long-lasting.
Everything we discard ends up in the ground. And it takes an average of 50 years for shoes and footwear to degrade, with few materials taking longer. The soil is contaminated by the toxic elements in the shoes. As a result, when we wear recycled shoes, we limit the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, resulting in less pollution.
Shoes made from recycled plastic are eco-friendly and not more expensive than normal footwear. They are almost as same as ordinary footwear in terms of cost.
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Massive Waste Discarding Shoes
Each year in America, 300 million pairs of shoes are thrown away. Unfortunately, footwear is incredibly difficult to recycle as its made with a variety of mixed materials like metals, plastics and leather, many of which are stitched or glued together.
The end result? Almost 90% of the discarded shoes end up in landfill, where they may take over 1,000 years to decompose.
Harmful chemicals are also emitted in the process which contaminates soil and ground water.
Sustainable Shoes Made To Last
As mentioned, not all sustainable shoe brands are taking their products back for reuse or recycling. However, the most important step in the design process is making a product thats designed to last. These shoe brands have built their reputations on using natural, recycled, and sustainable materials as well as on durability. If you can use your shoes or boots for 10 years, thats one of the most sustainable things you can do.
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Why Buy Shoes Made From Recycled Plastic
Recycled plastic shoes target more than one environmental problem.
They clean up the environment of plastic waste, giving a new lease of life to virgin resources.
They also make footwear more sustainable because if the materials can be recycled once then they can be recycled again.
In particular, these brands below consider the shoes afterlife from production.
They combine bio-based materials like wood or wool with recycled PET plastic to make them easy to recycle.
Many of them also have their own recycling schemes where you can send your worn-out shoes back to them so they can be patched up or reincarnated in other shoes or products.
So, ready to get on board with shoes made from recycled ocean plastic?
Scroll down to find pebbles favourites.
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A Leather Alternative: Thecwl
A lot of people speak about the vegan trend, a trend of leather substitutes. Unfortunately, plastic is a 99% petroleum-based material and it is often overused as a leather alternative. We follow an ecological purpose so replacing it by polymer materials has never been an option.
Finding an ecological alternative to leather was a primary objective for VEJA.
This is why in 2019, VEJA launched one of its first models in C.W.L., a vegan and bio-based material, back then produced in Italy.
But if it was one step further at the time, we failed in tracing the cotton used for this canvas-based material. The cotton used for the canvas was not organic.
So we decided to reinvent the C.W.L. in 2020 and trace it even further. Months of research gave us a better composition now produced in Brazil, where VEJA sneakers are made.
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Skip Into Spring With These Eco
There are few things we love more than a good pair of sneakers. Perfect for casual days at the office, running errands around town, or going on weekend adventures, sustainable trainers have become our go-to pair of shoes.
It can be challenging to find sustainable sneakers though, as many tennis shoes are made from virgin plastics and harmful dyes. The following shoe brands are passionate about changing the industry. They prioritize ethics and the environment in everything from materials to production and do so while designing some of the most stylish kicks on the market.
Whether youre shopping for street shoes or trainers for the gym, check out these footwear brands for your next pair of sustainable sneakers.
Looking for more styles, including shoes for work and special occasions? Here are our favorite shoes from sustainable brands. Dont forget the insoles!
Veja: Shoes Made From Recycled Plastic Organic Cotton And Chrome
If youre an avid reader of Recycled & Renewed, youll know that weve covered Veja shoes before in our in-depth review of Vejas SDU sneakers.
Veja is a top provider of eco-friendly sneakers, and for good reason! They are incredibly transparent about what goes into their shoes and how the people making the raw materials and shoes are treated.
Their most-used materials are:
- Recycled Plastic Provides a second life to plastic that would otherwise end up in landfills, repurposing the equivalent of up to 3 plastic water bottles per pair.
- Organic cotton Doesnt use harmful chemicals or waste water the way that conventional cotton does, reducing water usage up to 91% relative to non-organic cotton.
- Chrome-free leather Not all Veja leather is chrome-free, but chrome-free leather does mean less pollution, better biodegradability, and cleaner waste streams.
The company also treats employees and workers well by following fair trade principles. For example, they pay premium prices for organic cotton and purchase it before harvest, so farmers can depend on the pay.
The shoes themselves are unique and recognizable sporty and modern. While they can take some time to break in, they are overall comfortable, well-made shoes.
You can snag a pair for about $100 to $120, which is becoming the norm for most brand-name sneakers.
Last but certainly not least, our friends over at Top Vegan Shoes pointed out, Vejas happen to be vegan sneakers, so bonus points there as well.
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Why Choose Shoes Made Out Of Recycled Plastic Our Plastic Pollution Problem
It is no real secret that we have a pollution problem. Heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?According to IUCN.org 14 million tonnes of plastic is put into the ocean each year. 14 million. Not only is that a horrific feat in itself, but the list of damages this causes is something we all should be ashamed of. For example: 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomach More than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die from plastic pollution every year. 88% of the seas surface is polluted by plastic waste.
If that isnt horrid enough for you, you can find more statistics here.
Rothys themselves have kept 100 tonnes of plastic from reaching the ocean, and while it is just a drop in the bucket of the overall problem, every little bit helps.
So if you plan on purchasing some shoes in the future, why not go for a pair from an eco-conscious brand.
Yes shoes can be made out of recycled plastic, infact there are many brands currently making shoes from recycled plastic bottles from the ocean such as Rothys, Etnies, Cariuma, Vivobarefoot and more.
There are a number of brands making shoes made out of plastic bottles, for example, Rothys, Vivobarefoot and Etnies have a collection of shoes made from recycled ocean plastic including The White Rainbow Shoe, Tracker Forest Esc Womens, and Jameson 2 Eco respectively.
Ben T
