Adidas & Parley Team Up To Save Our Oceans

WRITTEN BY: Roger McDonald

Running, Recycled

Adidas and Parley for the Oceans are working together to save the world’s oceans. Like last summer, they’ve released two new collections recycled running shoes. The new Parley ULTRABOOST running shoes by Adidas are fabricated using recycled plastics collected from beaches before they’ve been swept up into the ocean.

Plastic has become an intrinsically helpful material in everyday human life. However, the careless pollution of plastic in our oceans ironically threatens human life. Nearly three-fourths of Earth’s oxygen comes from ocean life. Single-use plastic products make up 92% of all plastic waste in the ocean.

Plastic bags, straws, single-serving coffee pods, soda and water bottles: These are all examples of one-time use plastic products. As a result, many of these products end up adding to the ever-growing problem of pollution.

Parley for the Oceans is an environmental group dedicated to using creativity to raise awareness and create solutions for global pollution. For the second year in a row, they’ve teamed with Adidas to create shoes and other apparel made from Parley’s recycled plastics. In addition, Parley and Adidas have also launched a donation campaign called Run for the Oceans.

Run for the Oceans

Run for the Oceans, as explained by Adidas and Parley, is a “run to help end marine plastic pollution.” With this intention, runners can contribute to the Parley Ocean Plastic program by logging runtime distances using the Adidas Runtastic app. The Parley Ocean Plastic program raises $1 for every 1 kilometer ran.

As of today, 750,000 runners have logged 8.5 million kilometers in the name of Run for the Oceans. Money raised through the Adidas x Parley Run for the Oceans campaign will fund the rollout of the Parley Ocean School Initiative.

All in all, the responsibility of protecting the oceans from pollution rests in the hands (and feet) of the people. For this reason, Adidas and Parley have decided to give you the tools to do so. Lace up your recycled running shoes, boot up your Runtastic app and start running for a cleaner ocean!

Adidas and Parley: ULTRABOOST 4.0

These new ULTRABOOST Paryley running shoes consist of yarn made up of Parley Ocean Plastics. Unlike regular plastics, Parley makes these plastics from recycled waste intercepted from beaches and coastal communities before it reaches the ocean.

These shoes also come with an NFC chip installed in the heel of the right shoe. Your mobile phone can scan the chip, revealing the story of your shoe from consumer waste to consumer product. It also gives you information on what you can do to be more environmentally active.

Let’s take a closer look at these new environmentally-friendly shoes and the recycling process:

All images provided by Adidas and Parley for the Oceans.