what you're looking at is a waterfall of
harvested algae which is about to be
turned into shoes and while we've seen
plant-based shoes before most of them
are casual shoes making running shoes
out of plants is a little more
challenging most experiments can't
withstand the impact but one company
might have found a way to create a
plant-based shoe that can stand up to
running a marathon running shoes come in
different shapes and forms but they
generally share a few key
characteristics they usually have a
large heel a comfortable snug fit our
lightweight can withstand 150 to 300
miles and cost anywhere between a
hundred and two hundred and fifty
dollars and they're typically made
entirely out of plastic which is why
shoe companies have been experimenting
with plastic alternatives one such
company
Reebok decided to start with
transforming its top running shoe the
forever float ride energy we're doing
our best to find the balance between the
right materials that are great for the
earth and the performance that will be
upheld so anyone can run in this shoe
ultimately to run a marathon
unfortunately there aren't a lot of
plant-based materials that can live up
to the same performance and durability
as plastic corn couldn't hold up and
neither could mushrooms a lot of the
considerations that go into using these
materials is that they've never been
used in Footwear before they might not
have the right melt strength of the
right modulus or elasticity to be
suitable for performance product but
after a year of trial and error
Reebok found the best combination of
sustainable materials for its running
shoes the eucalyptus tree bark is
refined into a yarn to make the upper
mesh of the shoe the algae is melted
down to create the sock liner the castor
beans are turned into an oil to make the
midsole and lastly the rubber is used to
make the outsole of the shoe
each of these shoes uses 60% less
plastic than a typical running shoe a
lot of testing went into qualifying
these materials just to make sure that
the number one would work as a
performance shoe material there was
dynamic impact testing which simulates a
hundred miles of running two tests for
cushioning and responsiveness
performance testing which simulates
hundreds of miles of walking in one week
the test for impact abrasion and flexion
and sending the shoes out so people
could test them while running an average
of 25 miles a week for six weeks
but sustainability also comes with its
challenges there just aren't a lot of
these materials available and the
materials that are available are either
really expensive or they don't have the
physical properties that we need that
our consumers expect for performance
Footwear and at the end of this shoes
lifecycle it'll still go straight to
landfills so while this model doesn't
solve all the problems we're really just
taking the first couple of steps to make
as many products that are bio-based but
it's dependent a lot on the materials
and how quickly we can get more
materials how quickly they can scale
Reebok says it's planning to adopt this
practice and it's other shoe models in
2021 the more involvement and time and
energy that brands put into
sustainability efforts the more other
companies and suppliers will come into
the fold so we're taking a good first
step but we have a ways to go and we
know that as more and more companies
work towards creating sustainable
products who knows maybe one day you'll
be running in plant-based shoes without
even knowing it