Tag Archives: vegan sneakers

These sustainable sneakers are made from fruit waste!

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Sneaker culture is technically a part of fast fashion which contributes largely to the mounting waste problem. But if you can find a cool pair that is sustainably designed right down to its packaging, like the Hana sneakers then we’re all here for it! Designed by Italian sneaker brand ID.EIGHT, not only is this paid unisex and cruelty-free but it is made from materials that are by-products of the food industry and are counted as waste – apple skin and hearts, grape skin, seeds, and pineapple leaves!

Since the textile industry is the second most polluting in the world and intensive farming is a plague for the planet, the brand chose to produce the sneakers in Italy using only ecological and cruelty-free materials. Inspired by the 90s with references to the navy look, the sustainable shoes express the ironic and dynamic style of ID.EIGHT. The contrast between the upper in white recycled polyester and the AppleSkin details in shades of red and blue create a mix of contemporary and light colors.

They use four materials derived from apples, grapes, seeds, and pineapples. Piñatex , made with the waste leaves of pineapple grown in the Philippines; Vegea , obtained from the bio-polymerization of marc in Italy; AppleSkin , obtained from the bio-polymerization of apple peels and cores always in Italy. It features lycra and recycled mesh for inserts on the upper, sole, laces, and the label is also made of recycled materials.

The pineapple industry produces around 40,000 tons of leaves every year and is considered a waste material they are usually left to rot or burn. Today it is possible to recover them to create a biodegradable and cruelty-free material. With 480 leaves (16 pineapple plants) it is possible to obtain 1 square meter of material.

Over 7 million tons of marc are discarded every year by the wine sector, an unacceptable waste

Stalks, skins, and grape seeds are part of the “marc”, the residue of the grape juice extraction process. Today it is a strong, sustainable and flexible material. 310 million new plastics are produced and placed on the market every year, and only 9% of this is recycled which is why they chose to use recycled plastic for some components of the sneakers, such as the laces, the label, and the ribbon. The sole is also made up of 30% recycled rubber!

“In recent years, the amount of agri-food waste used to make sustainable products has gone from 0 to over 30 tons per month. A great resource is used to produce, for example, the ‘paper’ used for handkerchiefs and kitchen rolls, and the material we use for our sneakers,” adds the team. Even the packaging is sustainable, it is made with recycled cardboard and the shipping bags are made from at least 80% recycled polyethylene and are 100% recyclable. You will also find a ball of earth and seeds covered with clay – plant in a pot or throw in a gray area of ​​your city to spread some flower power!

Designer: ID.EIGHT

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Your next sneakers could be made from apples, grapes, or even cacti… and they’re MUCH better for the environment.

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Apples, pineapples, grapes, corn… no, these aren’t ingredients for a fruit salad. These are what the MoEa sneakers are made from. Using a unique technology that turns fruit into footwear, MoEa is ushering in an era of vegan leather that’s just as good as the real deal. Why? Because these plant-based leathers emit 89% less carbon than regular leather… and they help us deal with our massive food-waste problem too.

Designers: Achille Gazagnes, Benoit Habfast & Simon de Swarte

Click Here to Buy Now: $106 $154 (31% off). Hurry, only 15/189 left!

Choose among 5 plants: Corn, Pineapple, Apple, Cactus and Grape.

MoEas are sustainable, PETA-approved vegan, and recyclable.

It’s easy to dismiss vegan leathers as some sort of ‘gimmick’, although at scale, leather production has an undeniably ugly impact. Animal breeding accounts for over 10% of all global carbon emissions, and leather tanning results in tonnes of toxic chemicals making their way into our soil and water. Moreover, slaughtering an animal for making a shoe seems a little like overkill if you ask me. The obvious alternative footwear material, plastic, has a reputation that precedes it. Aside from being virtually impossible to recycle, plastic footwear will erode over time, causing microparticles to enter our ground, air, water, and eventually, our food cycle.

Apple Sneakers

Cactus Sneakers

MoEa believes they have a better alternative that knocks two birds with one stone. Not only do they replace the traditional leather and plastic with bio-materials, but they rely on food-waste like grape pulp from the Italian wine industry, pineapple leaves from the Philippines fruit industry, non-edible corn from the American corn industry, and unassuming cactus leaves from Mexico. Turning waste into raw materials, MoEa bind these fruit and plant fibers with cotton, or blend them with bio-polyurethane to create a new family of biomaterials that have a measurably lower impact on the environment. They look and feel just like leather, while being breathable, recyclable, and as an added bonus, cruelty-free.

An abbreviation of the words Mother Earth, MoEa strongly believes that the best way to pivot the fashion industry is to physically show that it’s absolutely possible to build products that are sustainably made. The movement starts at MoEa’s headquarters in Italy, arguably the epicenter of global fashion. Surrounded by companies that are a part of the ‘fast fashion’ problem, the folks at MoEa decided to pave the way forward as an entirely sustainable footwear company. I say entirely because each MoEa sneaker is built sustainably from inside to out.

On average, each sneaker is roughly 49% plant/fruit by composition. The insole is made from a soft, breathable 100% recycled wood fiber, while the soft inner lining of the shoe is a moisture-wicking recycled bamboo fabric. Based on the style of shoe you choose, the outer body could be made from a variety of leathers, ranging from food waste generated by apples, grapes, corn, pineapples, or even just harvested cactus leaves. The individual vegan leather pieces are stitched together and glued to a 40% recycled rubber outsole with a water-based glue, before being finished off with organic cotton laces. Even the box that the shoe comes in is made from recycled paper, and is devoid of any plastic or even extra paper frills. All the important instructions to take care of your shoe are directly printed on the inside of the box.

It’s justified to be a little skeptical of footwear made out of fruit – I’d be too – although MoEa’s done their fair bit of R&D to ensure that the shoes perform as great as they look. The shoes are designed to be water-resistant and tested for durability. They’re produced by skilled workers at MoEa’s supply center in Portugal and the company’s even committed to building a circular economy around the product. At the end of the sneakers’ life-cycle, consumers can ship them back to MoEa for free in return for a 10% discount on the next pair of shoes. The returned footwear will be appropriately disassembled, shredded, and repurposed into a fresh set of sneakers, helping reduce overall waste while minimizing the shoe’s carbon footprint. As they say, an apple sneaker a day keeps carbon emissions at bay.

Click Here to Buy Now: $106 $154 (31% off). Hurry, only 15/189 left! Raised over $80,000.