Sustainable shoe proves popular on Kickstarter
11/03/2019
Central to the SOLE x UBB Jasper Wool Eco Chukka is SOLE’s ReCORK midsole, which is made from recycled wine corks. They are ground down and then recombined using a proprietary formula. SOLE has said the material offers better flex, cushioning and durability than a standard EVA foam midsole.
The shoe also features UBB’s BisonShield insulation, which is a mix of recycled polyester fibres and fibres taken from the coat of the American bison. This material, a by-product of the bison meat industry, would have otherwise been wasted. The hollow fibres that make up this animal’s coat offer many of the properties needed from an insulation product.
Other materials used are ethically-sourced Australia Merino wool for the upper and Bloom’s algae-based foam for the footbed. The outsoles are made from a rubber derived from rice husks, a waste product of the rice industry. The footbed is treated with an anti-odour technology from Polygiene.
Brian Linton, founder and CEO of United By Blue, said of the collaboration: “Working with SOLE to incorporate BisonShield insulation into a footwear collection for the first time is reflective of our belief that sustainability is not a status quo. It also shows how working together with industry-leading peers, we are able to push the boundaries of sustainability further, more quickly.”
The SOLE x UBB Jasper Wool Eco Chukka was released on crowdfunding site Kickstarter on March 4. After just a week, nearly 2,000 people had pledged a total of more than $256,000, comfortably exceeding the project’s initial goal of $30,000.
Image credit: SOLE.
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