Nike to launch “green” eco-shoe
mongabay.com
February 15, 2008
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When Nike unveils the $185 Air Jordan XX3 this weekend at the NBA All-Star Game festivities this weekend, it will be the culmination of a company-wide effort to reduce the environmental impact of its footwear manufacturing, according to The Wall Street Journal.
For Nike the Air Jordan XX3 “represents a systemic shake-up of the company that is supposed to result in manufacturing operations that are both carbon neutral and cheaper,” writes Nicholas Casey. “The elaborately stitched Air Jordan XX3 is part of Nike’s ‘Considered’ program — a broad plan to reduce greenhouse gases and trim factory inefficiency by making cleaner, more sustainable designs in Nike’s own labs. Rather than monitor the use of facial masks by overseas workers handling toxic chemicals, Nike is teaching itself to design shoes that don’t use them… All footwear is scheduled to meet baseline requirements for the new program by 2011.”
“It’s right for the business,” Chief Executive told The Wall Street Journal. It’s about “how we can be more efficient.”
The new Air Jordan XX3 eschews chemical-based glues and uses an outsole made of recycled material. Another new shoe, called the Nike Trash Talk, is made largely from manufacturing waste.
Nicholas Casey (2008). New Nike Sneaker Targets Jocks, Greens, Wall Street. February 15, 2008; Page B1