Green trainers: Running shoes with a lighter eco-footprint

There have been many days where only two types of footwear were deployed: running shoes and (my inadvertent best buy of 2019) Made in Mongolia wool slippers  (madeinmongolia.net). The trainers have less of a sustainable glow than the slippers. But I have run more than ever in the past year, not faster or longer, just more.

We can donate used trainers (washed and air-dried obviously). But the likelihood of them being laced up again by anyone is slim. Much of what we use and toss ends up flooding poorer countries, destabilising their own industries. Trainers are tricky to recycle because they can contain dozens of different kinds of plastic for the complicated components that we hope will get us a personal best on our next virtual parkrun.

So the end of the road for an estimated 90 per cent of trainers is incineration or landfill where some components can last up to 1,000 years.

The giants have done some work. Millions of pairs have been recycled, but the maniacal marketing of must-have new tweaks continues. In 2018 more than 24 billion pairs of shoes were produced. So take-back programmes are sustainably halo-light at best.

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My trainers aren't so much shoes as sanity devices. So I hunted for a better option, and found Allbirds (allbirds.eu/products/womens-tree-dashers-geyser). The uppers are made from eucalyptus fibres with foam soles made from sugar cane. They feel great and when they're worn out, they won't leave toxic leftovers in their wake.

Later this year big things are coming. Adidas is trialling its FutureLoop trainer made from a single component which can be recycled to make new shoes when the old pair is returned. Before we get too misty-eyed, Adidas has made billions from burping forever-here non-recyclable shoes into the world. But when giants go green, we mainstream manufacturing as a circular activity within a closed loop of resources. It could reduce the legacy of pollution for our great great grandchildren to deal with long after we’ve passed the final finish line and eaten our goodie bag.

An alternative is a Swiss company called On (on-running.com/en-us/cyclon).  Cyclon is its "running shoe you will never own".  It's a €29.95 monthly subscription. That gets you a pair of the white shoes (one component made from castor beans so no dyes). And a new pair arrives when you return the old pair to be turned into more shoes.

I’ve signed up and should receive the first pair in the autumn, just in time to take their snowy whiteness through the muddy trails of the Phoenix Park. I’ll be running in shoes that I’m streaming, like Netflix, rather than owning, like a dusty DVD collection. Hopefully that will mean a future of running with a lighter footprint.