A lot of raw material goes into the making of footwear, so the less that can be used, the better for the environment. Nike's new Space Hippie shoes were designed with that in mind, as they're composed largely of recycled materials.
Not unlike the Adidas x Parley, the Hippies' uppers are made mainly of a woven yarn, that is in turn made up of 100-percent recycled materials obtained from sources such as water bottles, discarded T-shirts, and yarn scraps. Even when other materials besides the yarn are taken into account, the uppers are still reportedly 90 percent recycled content by weight.
The cushioned insoles are made from reprocessed factory scraps of Nike's ZoomX foam, left over from production of the company's Vaporfly 4% runners. A substance known as Crater Foam is used for the soles – 15 percent of that material takes the form of ground-up waste rubber granules, with the rest consisting of "standard Nike foams."
All told, the Space Hippie lineup is claimed to have the lowest carbon footprint score of any Nike footwear ever made. That said, we're still waiting to hear back from the company regarding the recyclability of the shoes.
Should you be interested, all four Space Hippie models should be available this spring (Northern Hemisphere) via Nike's SNKRS and SNEAKERS apps, and in select retailers. Pricing has yet to be announced.
Source: Nike