For years Nike has manufactured shoes from virgin materials, resulting in heaps of discarded scraps that go to waste in a landfill or incinerator. That is until one designer, Kasey Jarvis, found a way to piece together those discarded materials at a waste-management center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and transformed them into a wearable basketball shoe.
The “Trash Talk” shoe, a professional-quality basketball shoe made from recycled materials, is constructed from recycled scraps of leather and synthetic materials and has a sole made from recycled rubber. Endorsed by Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, its design is strong enough for an NBA player and won the Best in Show award in the 2009 International Design Excellence Awards.
Jarvis’ discovery also inspired Nike to be greener through its Considered Design initiative, started in 2008, to create 17% less waste in shoe production and work toward using 20% more recycled materials by 2020. The goal is to reduce Nike’s environmental footprint by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in its operations, incorporating sustainability in product design and sourcing all of its leather products from cattle raised outside of the Amazon biome by July 2010. Focusing on creating less waste and using more recycled materials, it will also benefit the company’s bottom line. For years Nike has manufactured shoes from virgin materials, resulting in heaps of discarded scraps that go to waste in a landfill or incinerator. That is until one designer, Kasey Jarvis, found a way to piece together those discarded materials at a waste-management center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and transformed them into a wearable basketball shoe.
The “Trash Talk” shoe, a professional-quality basketball shoe made from recycled materials, is constructed from recycled scraps of leather and synthetic materials and has a sole made from recycled rubber. Endorsed by Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, its design is strong enough for an NBA player and won the Best in Show award in the 2009 International Design Excellence Awards.
Jarvis’ discovery also inspired Nike to be greener through its Considered Design initiative, started in 2008, to create 17% less waste in shoe production and work toward using 20% more recycled materials by 2020. The goal is to reduce Nike’s environmental footprint by cutting greenhouse gas emissions in its operations, incorporating sustainability in product design and sourcing all of its leather products from cattle raised outside of the Amazon biome by July 2010. Focusing on creating less waste and using more recycled materials, it will also benefit the company’s bottom line. 