GreenSage E-zine 02/2008

Nike Releases Shoe Made From Manufacturing Waste

Nike has released the Nike Trash Talk, a basketball shoe made from manufacturing waste.

Steve Nash is the All-Star guard for the Phoenix Suns whose passion for environmental awareness forged a partnership with Nike to create the Nike Trash Talk, the first performance basketball shoe made from manufacturing waste. Nash debuted the Nike Trash Talk Valentines day in Phoenix against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Nike Trash Talk is modeled after Nash's current shoe, the Nike Zoom BB II Low, and meets Nike's Considered design standards for taking a sustainable approach to performance footwear innovation.

“Any opportunity to promote the environment and preserve our planet is a step in the right direction,” Nash said. “I'm very excited to be one of the first athletes to wear the Nike Trash Talk. I think people will love the shoe, and hopefully by wearing it I can inspire others to try it out as well.”

Nike footwear designer, Kasey Jarvis said: “I was really looking for a 'here and now' solution to footwear waste, and creating a performance product using waste materials felt like a very innovative solution. Using Nike's Considered design ethos I was able to create a shoe that stands up to the stringent on-court performance requirements but is also more environmentally friendly.”

The Nike Trash Talk eco-friendly materials include:
- 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 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.

Nike is releasing a limited number of the Nike Trash Talk in three different colorways - two Phoenix Suns colorways (home and away) and one colorway for Nash to wear this week for the All-Star Game. The All-Star colorway will be sold at the House of Hoops by Foot Locker in New York and in New Orleans with a suggested retail price of $100. The Phoenix Suns colorways will launch April 22, 2008 at the House of Hoops by Footlocker.

About Nike Considered and Nike Grind:
As part of Nike's commitment to innovate for a better world, the company has committed to designing all footwear to meet Nike's baseline or higher Considered design standards by 2011. Nike's Considered ethos challenges designers to use environmentally preferred materials, reduce waste, create sustainable manufacturing processes and use innovation to help reduce our overall environmental impact.

*Nike Grind: Nike created a recycling program in 1993 called Reuse-A-Shoe, which collects worn-out athletic shoes of any brand and recycles the footwear into usable material we call Nike Grind (rubber from the outsole, foam from the midsole and fabric from the upper). We also collect and recycle material left over from footwear manufacturing. Nike Grind is used in Considered product and in sports surfaces such as basketball courts, soccer turf and playgrounds which are donated to communities around the world.

Earlier this year, Nike designed its Air Jordan XX3 shoe to be environmentally correct.

Nike is touting this sneaker as being the first product in its companywide Considered initiative. The sneaker uses a minimal amount of adhesives and glues that are considered environmentally unfriendly, instead relying on a system of interlocking panels, which meant designing new machines to produce the product.

Why the AIR JORDAN XX3 is good for the planet:
• A breakthrough water-based bonding process attaches the carbon plate, eliminating solvent cements-a first for Nike performance basketball footwear and a new milestone in the company's long-standing efforts to reduce volatile organic compounds.
• Efficient pattern design minimizes waste.
• Environmentally preferred rubber in the outsole reduces toxics and incorporates recycled Nike Grind materials.
•A re-engineered inner bootie uses environmentally preferred materials without compromising performance properties such as stretch, breathability, resilience and comfort

Within six months, you'll see other [basketball shoe] companies following our lead,” said Tinker Hatfield, Nike's vp-innovation design and special projects.