It wasn’t so long ago that eco-focused cars were niche. When the coolest hybrid car was the Toyota Prius, going green meant sacrificing style. Then Tesla got big. Elon Musk envisioned an electric vehicle that didn’t sacrifice any of the cutting edge technology or visually striking design flair that the American public has come to love about cars. In short, Tesla made sustainability cool and forced other brands to respond.
Now Reebok is taking a page from the Tesla playbook by delivering a forward-thinking eco-conscious version of one of their most revered running shoes without sacrificing the performance that pro-runners expect. It’s a move that recognizes that saving the planet works best when the form and function are in place.
The Reebok Forever Floatride GROW is a plant-based version of their popular Forever Floatride silhouette and is part of Reebok’s Cotton + Corn sustainable footwear collection. The shoe’s upper is composed of naturally biodegradable Eucalyptus, which is sustainably sourced and designed to be both strong and breathable, and features a sock liner with natural odor-resistant properties made from algae harvested from invasive growth areas.
The sneaker sits atop a ultra-cushioned responsive midsole built from castor beans with a natural rubber outsole sourced sustainably from real rubber trees that help to mimic the same high performance and lightweight cushioning of Reebok’s original Forever Floatride. That’s serious green-cred there — a game-changer if it can actually take off in the running community. Today it’s Reebok for the runners, tomorrow it could be eco-Jordans!
In a statement on the shoe, Vice President of Reebok Future Bill McInnis emphasized the main goal of the Forever Floatride GROW, “During the three years we spent developing this product, we heard loud and clear that the idea of a plant-based running shoe resonates strongly with serious runners. But those same runners felt just as emphatically that they would never compromise on performance. The Forever Floatride Grow is the result. Plant-based performance — with no compromise.”
While that all sounds dope, production takes time. The Reebok Forever Floatride GROW is set to launch in the fall of 2020. Currently, Reebok has a website where you can sign up to learn more about the sneaker before its release. Hopefully, the hyped around this shoe pushes other brands to explore eco-conscious versions of their bestsellers.