Adidas to begin next phase towards plastic-free oceans

The introduction of the 2019 Parley range will see the company produce a landmark 11 million pairs of shoes using upcycled marine plastic waste. The campaign this year will also unite more runners in more locations than ever before to lace up and Run For The Oceans in order to reach its increased goal of $1.5 million. For every kilometer completed between June 8 and 16, Adidas will contribute $1 to Parley Ocean School programmes, with every dollar going towards the next phase of the partnership with the development and launch of the Parley youth activist platform.

Adidas and Parley raised $1 million raised from Run For The Oceans 2018 to support the Parley Ocean School Program, educating and empowering 100,000 youth in affected coastal areas. The partnership saw five million pairs of shoes created using recycled ocean plastic in 2018 alone.

With the aim of engaging more young people than ever before and inspiring long-term behavior change, the platform will host a digital curriculum which equips schoolchildren with the skills, tools and knowledge required to protect the planet’s oceans. It will also act as a digital space where young people can come together, share ideas and gain access to events, mentors, and tools. Sign-ups open for the Parley youth activist platform on June 8, with the goal of bringing the Parley Ocean School Program to a global level.

While Run For The Oceans is a global movement, in India, Adidas has given the movement further wings by associating with advocate Afroz Shah, the UN Champion of Earth 2016, starting from 2018. The purposeful initiative has resulted into activities that tackle the problem of marine litter. Cleaning Mumbai beaches, conserving the mangroves, running ground action workshop to stop litter and segregate plastic waste and most importantly the ideology of a circular economy. The Indian edition of the Run For The Oceans will be held in Mumbai on June 8 at the Versova beach.

This year, the brand has joined hands with eco champions and young leaders of sustainability including Abhimanyu Chakravorty (founder Plogga India & environment activist), and Sumer Verma (India’ first marine photographer & conservationist) take the movement wider.

Inspiring the larger universe to join the movement, Adidas is bringing together its community of adidas Runners, brand ambassadors, employees, store partners, store staff, and even consumers to make a difference and contribute to reducing marine plastic pollution by participating on the on-ground and digital runs.

“The marine plastic crisis we’re facing has become critically urgent. We affect it daily through the plastics we use and throw away. Every minute, the equivalent of a dump truck of plastic waste enters our oceans and by 2050, this could mean there may be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans. We know the stats and we’re aware of the issue. Now we need action. adidas x Parley has helped spread awareness of the crisis facing our oceans but also contributed to finding solutions. Back in 2016, we created the first performance products with recycled ocean plastics and went on to produce six million pairs of Adidas x Parley shoes by 2018, with a goal of making 11 million units this year, intercepting vast amounts of plastic from entering our oceans," Sharad Singla, brand marketing director, Adidas India, said.

"Run for the Oceans is an opportunity to celebrate the oceans, a place where runners unite to dedicate their time and energy and generate investment towards saving our oceans – this year, for our new activist platform, a global stage for the next generation of creators, leaders and thinkers. As the voice of our future, our youth make the most convincing teachers and best ambassadors, educating parents, industry leaders and politicians, and using media in the most native way. Youth are our biggest hope, since they are driven by the strongest of all motivations: their own survival. We are more than grateful for the generous support of our founding partner Adidas. It allows us to grow the movement into a superstorm of change,” Cyrill Gutsch, founder and CEO, Parley for the Oceans, said. (RR)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India