Sustainable Spanish Footwear
Sustainable Spanish Footwear
A new Spanish sustainable fashion brand has created an enticing line of footwear from single-use plastics collected from the ocean floor. As a continuation of their “Upcycling the Oceans Initiative” which started in 2015, Ecoalf source five plastic bottles from the Mediterranean Sea to create each pair of their Shao trainers. These specific trainers are part of the Ocean Waste Collection which generates absolutely zero waste in both the production & manufacturing of the shoes.
The ingenious process begins with plastic waste from the ocean floor which is extracted and processed into a yarn. This yarn is used as the base for the upper sole and is designed to fit like a sock. The outsole is composed of an invasive species of algae which has proven to create the most sustainable footwear based foam in the world.
As of now, Ecoalf has eliminated 250 tons of waste from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea and the continued philosophy behind the collection is zero waste - with the plastic bottles developed with PET (recycled polyester). The insole has been eliminated to reduce the number of materials used, along with shoe laces. Even the label is printed onto the material in an attempt to eliminate fabric waste.
Ecoalf has developed over 250 materials using plastic bottles, discarded fishing nets, coffee grounds and post-industrial cotton and wool, and it prepares to launch a swimwear collection in Thailand made from plastics next spring.
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