What’s Going On Here?
A year since announcing their partnership with Parley, Adidas has now sold over 1 million pairs of trainers made from 95% recovered ocean plastic, near the Maldives. Each pair is made from 11 plastic bottles.
What Does This Mean?
Back in 2016, only 50 pairs of plastic prototype trainers were available, but this had been scaled to 7,000 as Adidas’ partnership with Parley gained momentum. Parley claims that the one million target uses at least 11 million plastic bottles retrieved from coastal areas around the Maldives, and along 1,000 coral islands off the western coast of India. The trainers consist of 95% ocean plastic and 5% recycled polyester.
It provides consumers a chance to experience innovative environmentalism. Parley have partnered with other organizations such as Corona, who have pledged to protect 100 islands from marine plastic pollution by 2020.
Why Should We Care?
Each year, 8 million tons, or 16 billion pounds (7.2 billion kilograms) of plastic enter the world’s oceans as marine waste. There are about 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the oceans today. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. Big pieces of plastic are routinely ingested by animals who then face a range of health problems. As plastic breaks down it leaches toxic chemicals into the water and deteriorates into small debris that blanket the ocean’s floors and are ingested by organisms up and down the food chain.
Be Curious
This is a big deal with regards to sustainable materials and a moving towards a circular supply chain, a far cry from the heavily polluting fast fashion industry. When supply chains become self-sustaining and circular, the environment in question is protected from overexploitation and pollution. If this becomes the norm across many supply chains, environments across the world would be drastically improved.
