Kane Footwear has revealed an upcycling program that turns its shoes into yoga and changing mats.
The active recovery footwear brand debuted Project Renew today, an upcycling program that allows customers to send back its Revive slip-on shoes, which will then be converted into yoga and changing mats. To create this program, Kane Footwear partnered with upcycled rubber goods manufacture Lava Rubber.
Breaking down the process further, Kane Footwear said in a statement that customers can request a prepaid shipping label on its website, and their shoes will be sent to Lava Rubber to be shredded into flakes that can then be incorporated into mats. Flakes of Revive slip-ons, the brand explained, are mixed with a generic Lava Rubber mix that includes wetsuits, and all of the materials are incorporated into the mat.
Kane Footwear said this would keep five pounds of scrap out of the landfill.
What’s more, in exchange for returning the Revive shoe, customers will receive a $10 gift card to the Kane Footwear website.
“Lava Rubber and Kane Footwear are focused on providing customers with consciously-made goods, and it was only natural we work together,” Lava Rubber founder and chief revenue officer Michael Briody said in a statement. “We recognize the same positive energy in each other’s business models and knew our collaboration would produce something special. The Kane x Lava Rubber Mat Collection really brings our visions together and translates them into a physical form. Each mat is unique and considered a 1-of-1. We hope the world enjoys these as much as we do.”
The yoga mats will be available for purchase on the Kanefootwear.com today and will retail for $100. Changing mats will come with a $60 price tag.
Additionally, with Earth Day approaching, Kane Footwear has launched the Revive in a “Sunset/Earth Speckle” colorway. This iteration of the shoe, according to Kane Footwear, was created to celebrate the heritage of the Brazilian sugarcane that inspired its product. The Revive slip-on is made with plant-based EVA foam, dubbed RestoreFoam, which is composed of more than 75% Brazilian sugarcane byproduct. This material, Kane Footwear explained, retains CO2 sequestered during the sugarcane’s growth cycle, thus making it carbon negative.
The Kane Footwear Revive for Earth Day is available now via Kanefootwear.com for $75.
“Sustainability has always been a core tenet of Kane’s principles, and this latest initiative expands our offerings even further, providing customers with a simple upcycling option,” Kane Footwear founder and CEO John Gagliardi said in a statement. “The teal Kane logo on these mats, which are made from recycled Revives, pays homage to our previous Earth Day shoe. Every year we offer a special Earth Day launch, and this year we’re excited to launch both a special shoe design and Project Renew, our biggest step yet in expanding our sustainability promise.”
