Running has some environmental challenges. A love of plastic bottles, and technical tees to name two. But perhaps the biggest carbon footprint we leave is the one under our running shoes. A reliance on plastics, petroleum and a shelf life that we’re told is between 300 – 500 miles per pair all contribute to making running shoes an eco problem. So how do you solve it? Well the Adidas Futurecraft Loop project is trying to find some answers.
And this week I got a close-up look at the second generation Adidas Futurecraft Loop 2 running shoes, made from 100% recyclable TPU. What’s really special about these shoes is that this is their second life. What you see here are shoes reborn almost entirely from the first generation Futurecraft Loop with some recyclable virgin TPU added in places.
Ok, so they still use plastic and there are strong arguments in favour of finding alternative materials entirely but from where we are right now, with so many running shoes heading for landfill, this has to be a step in the right direction. It’s certainly a recognition from Adidas that its future success relies heavily on solving the problem.
And I have to salute Adidas for taking a lead. But also for successfully making shoes that look and feel like regular running shoes. Like the first generation Futurecraft Loop, the uppers aren’t quite as soft as a Primeknit but they’re not a million miles from the feel we’ve come to expect from our fancy modern running shoes. And that Boost foam is exactly the same as you’d find on a regular UltraBoost, except it had a former life.
Having been lucky enough to run in the first generation Loop, I’m pretty confident that these remade running shoes will perform pretty well too. Because while there are some subtle differences in its second life, it’s largely the same shoe.
It’s still not the perfect running shoe and it’s still not the complete answer to neutralising the planetary impact of the shoes we lace up. But it is a good running shoe. And that’s a start.
And yes, I’m chasing Adidas to see if we can get a pair to run test.
Adidas Futurecraft Loop 2: Close up with the second-gen eco-friendly running shoe
Now read this: Apple AirPods Pro vs PowerBeats Pro
Headphone head-to-head
