I have been a believer in the magical properties of wool for more than a decade, after finally being observant enough to see what my friend had told me 3 years prior to that. But in the past year, I watched a bunch of Youtube videos about harvesting seaweed/algae to make biodegradable plastics. One video mentioned footwear, and based on what they showed, I went out and ordered my biodegradable shoes from what seems like the only truly biodegradable footwear company, Blueview. They came in about 3 weeks ago, and so far, so good! Here’s what makes me excited about the future, and why I’m happy to ditch wool shoes.
Okay, so my friend got me my first exposure to the magic of wool in 2011. I didn’t quite believe it, or want to believe it, because it’s relatively expensive. But once I recognized the magic, I started getting more socks, sweatpants, jackets, and bike shorts. I reserved it mostly for biking or exercising, although the socks are everyday wear. Later on, I added cold weather beanie hats and scarves.
I was still wondering about whether wool casual shoes would ever exist as a product. Then Allbirds came onto the scene as some obscure trendy shoes among Silicon Valley elite, in 2017 (“ooh, Larry Paige walks in them and doesn’t need socks”). I got my first pair back then, and I loved that the upper was made of wool, but was disappointed at how quickly the tread of the soles wore down smooth in just 6 months of daily use. The wool upper loses its shape and becomes stretched after about 3-4 months or so even if you don’t put strain on them once, say, by jogging in them. Nevermind the fact that they’re called Runners, even though you’re not supposed to run in them. The smooth sole treads caused me to hydroplane and almost slip and fall repeatedly when walking at the pace of New Yorkers in the wet subway hallways on rainy days. I don’t need to fall and have a large audience made of aloof hurried people. It took Allbirds until 2019 to create a shoe with a sole solid enough to be usable on a rainy day, but the fit was still uncomfortable.
In short, don’t believe the hype of Allbirds. Not just in terms of quality, but especially in terms of sustainability. Yes, wool is great, but what they call “sweet foam” for the insoles and bottom sole is just greenwashing. Plastic is plastic, whether it is made from petroleum or sugar cane fiber. If the end product of “sweet foam” is the same as traditional polyurethane foam plastic, then it still has a problem with degrading. And now we’re all aware of the problem of microplastics polluting the water, the oceans, our food, and our bodies. We know that the largest source of microplastics is our clothing (the leading cause is us putting synthetic material clothes into the washing machine). Likewise, it doesn’t do us much good when other companies talk about making shoes partially from reclaimed plastic bottles and repair it. It’s greenwashing all the same, but just a matter of degrees.
I feel the problem needs to be handled at the source, which is to not make inert plastic in the first place, and especially not doing so from limited sources like fossil fuels via polluting extractive means.
Plastics from Algae/Seaweed?
I was first intrigued by these videos introducing the idea of plastics made from algae, and why algae are a more compelling source than land plants. And btw, seaweed are actually just large algae:
Fully Biodegradable Footwear (from Algae)?
This video introduces the Blueview Footwear company in earnest with one of the cofounder scientists:
Other types of biodegradable plastic from algae/seaweed
The above videos came out 3 years ago. The following 2 videos came out only a year ago, talking about solutions to farm seaweed, and how to turn seaweed into other forms of plastic, like plastic wrap.
Also, I can understand the Thamil being spoken in the first of these 2 videos!
How to detect greenwashing
And the following video explains why you have to be careful about products claiming to be bioplastics or biodegradable, or even if they say they are compostable but only in a commercial facility. Perhaps “biodegradable” is a stronger statement than “compostable”?
Biodegradable phone cases
My Pela phone case for my Pixel phone is supposed to be genuinely compostable in a back yard.
Notice how clear they are that it can biodegrade in your back yard compost heap in 90 days.
People with iPhones can get the equivalent for cheaper at Quince.
Honorable Mention for Shoes
A shoe that claims to be 97% biodegradable comes from a European company, Earthbound. They also seem to point out that shoes claiming to be biodegradable really aren’t. As much I still like wool for my clothes, but shoes need to be made of more material and be sturdy, so wool isn’t the right choice. And I’m not sure how I feel about cork or latex — they’re absolutely natural materials, but do they come at a premium like wool due to the inherent natural supply constraints due to the geography and climate of their growing conditions?
Earthbound must be new because it never turned up in my searches over the last few years. Instead, what I have been wearing for the last 4 years, after ditching Allbirds, was Baabuk, a Swiss company for wool sneakers. I liked getting interesting colors from the Baabuk By You, which is just a customization of the Urban Wooler model.
Sequenced Thoughts from C/S 