If you believe what the Victorian Age did to many pieces of art and sculpture, ancient humans spent much of their time running around covered only by fig leaves. While the motivation is entirely different, Reebok is bringing a similar approach to the covering of feet. The brand recently announced the Forever Floatride GROW, a performance running sneaker that eschews petroleum-based plastics in favor of plant-based materials.
How did the Reebok designers pull it off? First, the shoe’s cushioned, responsive midsole is made of sustainably grown castor beans. Second, the biodegradable, breathable upper comes from eucalyptus trees. Third, the odor-resistant sock liner features BLOOM algae foam. And last, the flexible, durable outsole is sourced from real rubber trees.
What’s really noteworthy here is that if you were to run in it, you’d be unlikely to notice a huge difference from the original, award-winning Forever Floatride Energy, a shoe lauded for its performance benefits. And that’s exactly Reebok’s intention, to produce a top-notch running shoe that just happens to be sustainable, too. The only catch is, you’ll have to wait for it: Forever Floatride GROW will be available for purchase next fall.
