Shoes often make a statement.
Shoes from Environmentally Neutral Design or END say “responsible design and innovation.”
Andrew Estey left a cush job at Nike to found his Portland, Ore., company and reinvent the way running and athletic shoes are made.
For starters, the durable, lightweight shoes are made from other shoe manufacturers’ waste and ground into raw material. The company uses far fewer pieces, requiring far less glue. Even the shoe boxes are eco-friendly, made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled waste and printed with soy-based ink.
Estey says the company is working on making a shoe without glue, reducing exposure to his overseas workforce.
“Our stated goal,” he tells Inventors Digest, “is to one day make a shoe that could be tossed into your compost pile.”
