Most people aren’t big on the idea of gum on their shoe, but what about wearing shoes made of gum? Yep, it’s a thing. An Amsterdam company has created the world’s first line of sneakers made up recycled gum. Marketing organization Iamsterdam, designer Explicit Wear and a sustainability company Gumdrop have teamed up to create the Gumshoe. The sneaker’s sole is made up of a compound “Gum-Tec,” which is made of 20 percent gum.
Gumdrop uses around two-point-two pounds of gum in every four pairs of sneakers. The gum used is scraped straight from Amsterdam’s streets. Managing Director and Designer at Gumdrop Anna Bullus says, “We discovered gum is made from a synthetic rubber. And by breaking down these properties, we were able to create a new type of rubber.” So the question is, why gum?
Gumdrop says around 3.3-million pounds of gum make it on the streets of Amsterdam each year. “We started looking for a way to make people aware of this problem… That’s when the idea began to create a product people actually want from something no one cares about,” notes spokesperson Jonathan Van Loon. He adds that the rubber formed from the gum is just as strong as the average rubber and if you’re wondering, yes, it does smell of gum.
Source: The Verge