6 ms·
Cellulose Shoes Made by Bacteria
- muizelaar 4y ago"Rapid biodegradation of renewable polyurethane foams with identification of associated microorganisms and decomposition products" (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0595/5878/9298/files/1-s2.0-S2589014X20301341-main.pdf https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0595/5878/9298/files/1-s2....) is a somewhat related paper about the Soleic foam used in the shoes sold here: https://blueviewfootwear.com https://blueviewfootwear.com
- SN76477 4y agoThis is fantastic. I switched to minimal shoes just over a year ago. While they are great, they wear holes in the sole after just a few months. The shoe is fine, the laces are fine. Throwing them away feels like an absurd waste. But the holes do make them unwearable. I wouldn't feel as bad about throwing them out if I knew the materials were renewable.
- klyrs 4y agoThe shoe in TFA is the opposite of minimal. Honestly I don't know how people are supposed to walk in shoes when the heel extends so far back. I feel like I'd die going down stairs.
- hombre_fatal 4y agoThey probably did that to make them look particularly trendy instead of just boring shoes. Makes them more interesting to talk about.
- tomcam 4y agoAs a person advocating for the rights of single-celled organisms, I find this bacteria slavery troubling. The only ethical shoes are graphene-based.
- vladsanchez 4y agoLOL, what a troll!!! (ROFL)
- tsol 4y agoThis is nothing short of a call to slavery for those yet- undiscovered quantum organisms we just can't detect yet. How does it feel to be a fascist? /s
- tomcam 4y agoOMG I can't even walk now. Who knows what I'm untangling. HOW CAN I FLOAT???? Parent username highly appropriate
- socialismisok 4y agoWe meet again, Tom! I know you jest, but I legitimately know folks who would sit down and have a lengthy chat about whether bacterial products should be considered vegan. (I personally tend to fall on the side of "don't eat factory farmed animals" side of vegetarianism. Know the farmer? Animal was raised with plenty of space and care? Enjoy. Mass produced beef from a CAFO? Avoid.) I do love seeing advances in microbiology and fermenting novel products. Brave robot, for instance, produces milk from engineered microorganisms rather than cows. Makes for a pretty tasty vegan ice cream! The future is wild.
- tomcam 4y agoI am completely in line with your thoughts on eating animals. I used to call myself a farmer but the truth is I can't even slaughter any of my chickens, and was shattered when one died last year. It's a luxury belief. I am also sympathetic to those who don't have that luxury. I do know the farmers we buy meat from. I am grateful for what they and the butcher do for me. TBH I have also worked through the ethics of bacteria but eventually came to the same conclusion Ben Franklin did. He was a vegetarian for quite some time. In his autobiography he describes seeing someone cut open a fish and seeing inside it the three fish it had eat recently. He went back to eating meat after realizing we're all on the food chain. I have even thought about the research showing almost-sentient behavior, or at least chemical reactions, in plants. It troubles me a little. Again, they would have no compunction about consuming me if I were available to them in consumable form. I am certainly never going to advocate against eating plants though.