NNormal-ising Circularity With Running Shoes

On the surface, running seems like a very green sport. In terms of movement, there’s arguably no mode of transport better for the environment. But digging deeper, there are issues that still need addressing. Kílian Jornet’s shoe brand looks to highlight the footprint we’re leaving with the shoes we buy.

I’ll hold my hands up. I’m a sucker for new shoes. Every time Nike or Adidas or Hoka or Saucony release a new model, I’ll be on the shopping page, reading about the research or tech that has gone into them.

Well shoe brand NNormal sent director, Max Romey to find out what happens to old shoes with their short film No Lost Shoes.

Along with an Ocean Plastic Recovery Project, Romey took his sketchbook to see just how much of the trash in Katmai National Park, a remote Alaskan island, is made up of old footwear. The results? They found A LOT of shoes. Many different types from many different brands. And what was more startling was that where one shoe was found, it posed the question of the whereabouts of its partner shoe. Most probably not even on the same island, but floating its way through our oceans miles away.

Romey concludes that we should be buying shoes that are built to last, and repair broken shoes where we can. And for brands they should be thinking about how they can close the loop. Across the planet, we are expected to pump 20 billion shoes into the world and that’s just for this year. Their should be more onus on these big corporations to recycle old models and push towards circularity.

Kílian Jornet signs off the film by saying “Our footprints, they are not good or bad. It's just how we use them to advance towards one or another direction… We all leave footprints, make yours temporary.”

NNormal are attempting to make this a reality by introducing their No Trace Program- taking used outdoor gear from any brand, regardless of the product condition, and repairing / recycling it to give it a second life. Something others should take a lesson from.