Adidas Is Selling Only 7,000 Of These Shoes Made From Ocean Waste

Starting in mid-November, you can buy a pair of shoes unlike any you’ve likely ever owned.

How are these shoes different, you ask? For starters, they are made from ocean waste. Cool, right? Well, you better hurry and purchase a pair if you want them, because adidas is only making 7,000 pairs.

Last year, adidas used a 3-D printer to produce a prototype that could “rethink design and help stop ocean plastic pollution,” according to the adidas website.

After 3-D printing the prototype, they’ve produced the 7,000 paris like normal shoes, even though there’s nothing normal about them. The upper part of the shoes is made of 95 percent waste plastic found in the ocean around the Maldives and 5 percent recycled polyester. The rest of the shoe, like the lining, heel, and laces, is made of mostly recycled material.

Each shoe also has eleven plastic bottles woven somewhere within the shoe.

The shoe is named UltraBOOST Uncaged Parley, which references Parley of the Oceans, the non-profit organization focused on reducing plastic waste in the ocean that collaborated with adidas to launch this line of sneakers.

Even though only 7,000 pairs of shoes will be sold at stores and online (for $220), the future for ocean waste shoes look bright.

“We will make one million pairs of shoes using Parley Ocean Plastic in 2017—and our ultimate ambition is to eliminate virgin plastic from our supply chain,” said Adidas executive Eric Liedtke in a press release.

Besides the running shoes, adidas is also making limited-edition soccer kits for soccer clubs Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. These kits will also use recycled ocean waste as well.

The hope is that these shoes will help continue the conversation about recycling ocean waste and encourage more companies to take similar actions.

“Nobody can save the oceans alone,” said Cyrill Gutsch, the founder of Parley for the Oceans. “Each of us can play a role in the solution. It’s in the hands of the creative industries to reinvent faulty materials, products, and business models. The consumer can boost the demand for change.”