Cleaning up the streets of Amsterdam.
Every year in the Netherlands, 1.5 million kilos of gum end up on the streets – it’s the second most common form of litter after cigarettes.
In an effort to reduce waste, city marketing organisation Iamsterdam, designer Explicit Wear and sustainability company Gumdrop have teamed up to turn discarded gum into sneakers.
The sole of the sneakers is made from a recycled compound known as Gum-Tec – a product made with 20 per cent gum, scraped off the streets of Amsterdam. The Gum-Tec compounds are formed as granules and then moulded into the sole of the shoe. They are as strong as normal rubber and even smell like gum.
The rest of the Gumshoe is made from leather and available in colourways of bubblegum pink, black or red.
The collaborators have plans to allow customers to recycle and replace the sole when they’re worn (for a fee) and have goals to expand the project to other major cities.
You can pre-order your own pair of Gumshoes here, or wait until the release in June to contribute to the reduction of gum waste.
Stephanie Vigilante 
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