While delegates negotiated an agreement at COP21, we unveiled the latest adidas x Parley innovation:
a 3D-printed Futurecraft midsole made from Ocean Plastic.
The threats to our oceans have never been greater, yet neither has our understanding of these complex issues. We know what we're doing. We know what's happening to our planet. We already have the tools to help reverse the destruction, so why are we waiting to implement them?
Progress has stalled in a dangerous waiting game — a cycle of inaction only the creative industries can end. adidas x Parley is bigger than a couple of concepts for Ocean Plastic shoes.
This is about rethinking and redesigning the products and decisions that shape our world. Through eco innovation and collaboration, we can rewrite the rules. At Parley x COP21, we unveiled our second footwear concept in collaboration with adidas: a 3D-printed Futurecraft midsole made from Ocean Plastic. The technology has yet to be perfected, but there's a lesson in the process itself: If we wait for the perfect solution, there will be no solutions. Every action we take is a step forward. The worst thing any of us can do is nothing.
“World leaders forging an agreement is wonderful, but we shouldn’t need to be told to do the right thing. The industry can't afford to wait for directions any longer.
Together with the network of Parley for the Oceans we have started taking action and creating new sustainable materials and innovations for athletes. The 3D-printed Ocean Plastic shoe midsole stands for how we can set new industry standards if we start questioning the reason to be of what we create.”
Eric Liedtke, adidas Group Executive Board Member, Global Brands
The concept shoe consists of an upper made from Ocean Plastic and a midsole 3D-printed using recycled polyamide and gillnet materials. The prototype was unveiled at a press conference during ‘Parley x COP21: Oceans. Climate. Life.', a two-day summit of Parley Talks and Collaboration Sessions held parallel to the Paris climate change negotiations, with the goal of mobilizing the creative industries toward immediate action.
As founding member, adidas supports Parley in education and communication efforts, as well as through implementation of our comprehensive Ocean Plastic Program and A.I.R. (Avoid. Intercept. Redesign.) Strategy to help end ocean plastic pollution and create longterm change upstream. Since announcing our partnership in April 2015, adidas has already taken several concrete steps in this direction.
Initial actions include:
AVOID
The adidas Group will completely phase out the use of plastic bags in its retail stores by the end of Q1 2016. Learn more. Together with its partner COTY, adidas has ended the use of plastic microbeads across all licensed body care products. Learn more. The company has stopped the use of plastic bottles in all meetings at its headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
INTERCEPT
In November 2015, a group of 20 employees attended Parley Ocean School, a program that blends ocean activism with experiential learning and activities in a marine environment. Employees helped retrieve plastic debris from coastal areas, learned about the state of the oceans through Parley Talks and are now acting as Parley Ambassadors. adidas is looking at extending this initiative to more employees going forward. Learn more.
REDESIGN
Prior to the 3D-printed Ocean Plastic shoe midsole, we celebrated the launch of our partnership with adidas in the unique surroundings of the United Nations headquarters and showcased a world-first concept innovation: a shoe upper made entirely of yarns and filaments reclaimed and recycled from ocean waste and illegal deep-sea gillnets.
“With a framework of political goodwill in place, it's the right moment to transform words into action. At the end of the day, we want to be measured not by what we say, but by what we achieve.”
Cyrill Gutsch
PARLEY OCEAN SCHOOL
This partnership isn't simply about creating innovative footwear, it's about working together to act on the information that's available to us today. We can't afford to wait for the perfect solution to ending ocean plastic; it doesn't exist. No one can do everything to fix these problems, but everyone can do something every single day. Together we can change the game.
