We all know the garment industry creates a lot of waste. From fast fashion that gets discarded after one season, to cheaply made sneakers, there are so many ways in which our consumption needs to change.
One company with an innovative solution is called Woolybubs, based in the US, with a range of baby shoes/slippers that biodegrade at the end of their life.
Both biodegradable and dissolvable in hot water, the shoes represent a vision where waste is avoided when outgrown or no longer worn.
“The industry of baby and kids’ products has so much waste,” Milliken told Dezeen. “We experienced it ourselves as parents and our goal was to create a product that is useful to parents that will not add damaging substances to the environment or contribute to plastics proliferation.”
Using a polymer called polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), the miniature shoes will dissolve in a pot of hot water after 40 minutes. The shoes do not break down into micro plastics, but instead into much more eco-friendly individual polymer chains, which can be poured down a drain.
Customers can also send the shoes back to the company for industrial composting.
They are adorable on their own, and their innovative end-of-life cycle makes them even more attractive. Available on the Woolybubs website starting at $34.
