Nike Waste

Nike really does have a lot going on. It's been over a decade since it took some deserved heat for inhuman labor practices over seas. It's something that still lingers with them and honestly kept me from purchasing any of their shoes until the past year. Possibly because their earlier scar of social irresponsibility, they've started Nike Considered, a set of standards with the goal of making Nike a better company. They have goals for improving labor conditions and also reducing their environmental impact. The Reuse-A-Shoe program takes all different kinds of used shoes and converts them into Nike Grind, a ground up version of the parts of the shoe that can be used to create the surfaces of playgrounds and courts.



I recently came across the Steve Nash (Pheonix Suns) Nike Trash Talk made from manufacturing waste. It meets the Nike Considered criteria in four parts:

The upper is pieced together from leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor using zig-zag stitching.
The mid-sole uses scrap-ground foam from factory production
The outsole uses environmentally-preferred rubber that reduces toxics and incorporates Nike Grind* material from footwear outsole manufacturing waste.
• The Phoenix Suns' colorways will have shoe laces and sockliners which use environmentally-preferred materials and will be packaged in a fully recycled cardboard shoe box.

I think it's pretty cool and if anyone can make an impact on the industry, it's Nike. TMT will be donating our old shoes to their Reuse-A-Shoe program. I'm hoping to see a little bit of them in the next round of their waste-made wonders.