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Michael Jordan's "green" sneaker

When you think pollution, you think coal plants, big SUVs, maybe chemical fertilizers-not sneakers. Read More

When
you think pollution, you think coal plants, big SUVs, maybe chemical
fertilizers-not sneakers. But Nike produces about 225 million pairs of
sneakers and shoes every year, and it’s aiming to make them in a more
sustainable way. That’s the topic of today’s Sustainability column.

I’m
impressed every time I talk to Nike people about social or
environmental issues. Maybe because they got burned, famously, in the
1990s over child labor, they take their responsibilities seriously. And
they are quite sophisticated in their thinking.
Here’s how the column begins:

The world’s most celebrated sneaker is turning green.

Well,
not literally. Nike’s Air Jordan XX3 – the 23rd and perhaps final
edition of the series of shoes endorsed by retired basketball star
Michael Jordan, who wore No. 23 as a player – will come in black with
red and gray stitching when it launches nationwide during the NBA’s
All-Star weekend next month.

But
the Air Jordan XX3, unveiled with considerable fanfare this week,
differs from its predecessors because is the first basketball shoe
shaped by what Nike calls “Nike Considered,” an approach to design that
favors environmentally-preferable materials, reduces toxic chemicals
and curbs waste.

You can read the rest here.

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