Sneakers (运动鞋) Made from Old Chewing Gum
Dutch fashion and shoe label Explicit Wear is hoping to solve one of life's sticky situations—the annoyance of stepping in waste chewing gum on the pavement—while helping to keep Amsterdam's city streets clean. The brand has partnered with local marketing organization Iamsterdam and sustainability firm Gumdrop (create) a limited edition sneaker for adults made from recycled gum collected from the city's pavements.
Chewing gum causes an incredibly serious ecological problem, it is made from plastics that do not biodegrade (生物降解). It's also the second (common) form of roadside litter, after cigarette ends. An incredible 3.3 million pounds of gum are incorrectly thrown away on the sidewalks each year, (cost) the city millions of dollars to clean up. Gumdrop plans to collect waste gum from the streets of Amsterdam, clean them, and turn them into Gum-Tec, the material that forms the base of the shoe.
The waste gum will be put to good use to make stylish kicks, will also raise awareness for the anti-littering cause. (price) at around $332, the shoes will come into the market sometime next month.
Available for preorder now, the new Gumshoe sneakers—offered in both a bubblegum pink and a black/red colorway— (feature) long-lasting rubber outsoles (鞋子外底) shaped from recyclable compounds produced by Gumdrop, 20 percent of which are made from gum.
Nearly 2.2 pounds of gum (use) in every four pairs of shoes. A map of Amsterdam is made into the bottom of the soles to remind people of the littering problem. Even better, the sneakers actually still smell like bubblegum, the annoying stickiness. Just as good as any sneaker with a rubber sole, the Gumshoes help get chewing gum off our streets and keep the dangerously non-biodegradable substance out of our eco-system.
To help spread their sustainability message, Gumshoe's creators are hoping to do is to expand their project to other major cities around the world.
