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What do "shoes made from the ocean" actually look like?
We're finally getting a close-up look. This week, Adidas is unveiling wearable versions of its Adidas x Parley Ultra Boost sneakers, made entirely of recycled plastic waste and old fishing nets from the ocean. The company presented a prototype last year, which weren't quite wearable. But this week, in honor of World Oceans Day, Adidas announced its releasing 50 actual pairs to lucky fans.
"Unlike the first shoe, which was unforgivably stiff, you can actually run, comfortably, in this one," reports Wired.
So wearable shoes made entirely from ocean crap — how does that work? A new video from Adidas actually gives us a sense of how the murky ocean floors can create shoes. Yes, it takes actually going out on the water...
... and yes, it's a little dark and creepy and Titanic-y...
... but all that wire, which are really "deep-sea gill nets" and plastic waste from old bottles, is then spun into thread and woven into sneakers.
The sneakers are a joint project from Parley, a conservation group that's raising awareness about ocean waste and recycling. "Recent studies indicate that at least 40 million pounds of plastic has accumulated and is floating in the North Pacific Ocean alone," the group writes on its website.
Now some of that plastic can be in your sneakers — only, of course, after it's harvested in a deep-sea expedition that reminds us not just a little of The Perfect Storm. You can enter to get one of the 50 new pairs for yourself by submitting a video to Adidas' Instagram, from now until July 31st.