- Sorry I didn’t make that clearer, compostable performance EVAs and PUs exist and perform well, just not as well as the top of line EVAs/PUs/Pebax of the world. The idea is to choose a use-case where a slight hit in performance is acceptable for distance runners (i.e. non-race and non-high injury risk situations, such as high-mileage traienrs). I definitely admire what Adidas has done with the Adidas Loop concept, and while I was at VF Innovation we did a deep dive on circularity and consumers returning products. From that research I wasn’t sold that consumers would consistently return shoes (in 2020 anyway, in a decade or two who knows). Also since only around 9% of plastic actually gets recycled, so it doesn’t seem like a good long term solution. I think staying away from materials that don’t decompose is the best short term solution until we create better take-back programs that consumers understand and habitually participate in.
tl;dr the shoe could be directly buried after use, no disassembly or prep required. All materials decompose into inert/non-bioreactive/non-toxic materials. Use clever construction methods and techniques such as mechanical cushioning, plates, etc. to eek out extra performance of slightly sub-par foams.
- Right now I’m working on two concepts (which I’ll post some more sketches of in a bit), where one is trail based and the other is a lightweight trainer. Admittedly, neither of these has a large market but for this project I’m fine with that. When I say lightweight trainer, I mean the type of shoe you only pull out for workouts, potentially only putting 50-100 miles a season into them. My brother was a fan of DS Trainers, I’ve used Adidas Adios for a while, you’ve got Brooks Launch, Pegasus Turbos, Saucony Kinvaras, etc. So these are meant to be fast, but if they aren’t Alphafly fast that’s fine because you’re training, not racing, and they still will perform well, just not absolute peak performance. I also avoided the idea of regular trainers because as someone who’s teetered on the edge of injury for most of my career, I wouldn’t take a risk on a bio-based shoe for the shoe I’m spending 300 miles a month in. I totally agree that these wouldn’t be for everyone (and from the interviews I’ve done there’s been a bit of hesitancy) but part of the core part of the project is to start proving to serious distance runners that green foams can get the job done, and if there are any trade-offs they are minimal and worth it.
I agree that the trail version is the best story and probably best use-case, the second is more for fun and to show how the design language could change per use-case as well.
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I agree and disagree, these are all almost isometric side views, with the image sizes controlled for by stick length so there is some consistency (enough for a 50,000 ft view at least). I won’t be taking anything concrete from those images, but I do think it’s interesting that the forefoot radii (toe-springs) are very nearly the same across brands.
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Thanks, that’s the second part of the story I’d like to explore. Like I said, while I agree that circularity and take-back/recycling programs will take off in the future, I think composting is a superior short term solution that is less likely to be screwed up by the consumer or recycling process(recycling a shoe can go wrong at many different steps in the process, composting is pretty dead simple and occurs regardless of location). I also believe in the future all of our disposable and semi-disposable products will be compostable, but that’s a whole different topic.
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Thanks for the heads up, Adobe subscription lapsed since I graduated. Hopefully can recover the site, otherwise will rebuild.
Pictures from that project, more concept than anything else.
