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MoEa, meaning Mother Earth, has created alternative leather sneakers from food waste. The company claims that the shoes emit 89% fewer carbon emissions than traditional leather as it is made from grapes, cacti, apples, pineapple, and corn.
Collection contains 5 different plants
The shoes were designed in France by Achille Gazagnes, Benoit Habfast, and Simon de Swart. They are manufactured in Portugal using Italian materials.
Food waste like grape pulp from the Italian wine industry, apple waste from the juice industry, waste of pineapple leaves from the Philippines, non-edible corn, and cactus leaves are combined with either organic cotton or bio-PU or recycled plastic depending on the plant. This alternative leather is then incorporated into the PETA-approved vegan sneakers.
Read: We’re Loving These 5 Upcycled Sneakers Made From Waste
Recycled materials
The insole is made from 100% recycled wood fibre with laces derived from organic cotton and an inner lining produced from 75% recycled bamboo fabric. The pieces are glued together with water-based glue.
The company claims that the shoes are cruelty-free and after use, consumers can send in their MoEa shoes and in exchange, they will receive a 10% discount code. The company will recycle the shoes into new soles and in doing so, the company will be saving up to 40% rubber in each pair of soles.
MoEa is publishing a Life Cycle Assessment developed by certified agency CLIMATE PLUS to show how sustainable are bio-based materials compared to traditional leather.
We’ve launched MoEa to create sneakers that offer the same level of style and comfort you’d expect to see in your favourite leather pair, whilst ensuring that the planet isn’t some sort of a meaningless afterthought and that animals aren’t treated with cruelty
Achille Gazagnes, co-founder of MoEa
MoEa has launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter with the present total crossing the target by 800%.
In a statement, co-founder of MoEa, Achille Gazagnes said: “We’ve launched MoEa to create sneakers that offer the same level of style and comfort you’d expect to see in your favourite leather pair, whilst ensuring that the planet isn’t some sort of a meaningless afterthought and that animals aren’t treated with cruelty.”
Sustainable endeavours
The company has been selected by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as a member of the French Start-Up Club and it has pledged to financially support the WWF Forest Protection program.
64% of MoEa’s workforce are women and the factory runs on 100% renewable energy. Going forward, it plans to gain a B corp status and look for ways to further reduce its carbon footprint.
The Kickstarter campaign will last till August 8, 2021, with delivery scheduled between October 1 to 15.
Read: Would You Wear Sustainable Sneakers Made From Upcycled Coffee Grounds?
Lead image courtesy of MoEa.
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