Plant-Based Materials Made by Eco-Innovators
We’ve severed all ties with toxic materials and harmful plastics, choosing to protect our beaches, coastlines, and planet instead. To make that happen, the leading scientists behind BLUEVIEW spent more than 6 years coming up with a sustainable solution that would address plastic pollution in a meaningful way and revolutionize the footwear industry.
The wait was well worth it. Soleic® is the first of its kind and a remarkable feat in plant-based materials.
With plant-based polyurethane foam as the foundation of our shoes, we just needed a biodegradable* knitted upper to match our mission. To our surprise, that didn’t exist, even from companies claiming to sell them.
Once again, we created the solution we wanted for ourselves: plant-based knitted uppers. We worked closely with knitting machine suppliers and programmers to create biodegradable*, sustainable uppers made from hemp and eucalyptus yarn, the most eco-friendly of its kind. The result is Plant Knit, the world’s first plant-based and fully biodegradable* machine knitted shoe upper.
As we work to create the sustainable, plastic-free future we want to see, we’re proud to walk towards our goal: wearing BLUEVIEW shoes.
Learn More
Great FIt for You and The Planet
Sturdy and comfortable enough to support you on any journey, from sea to sand to sky, with a timeless look that matches your style. The upper is machine knitted from hemp and eucalyptus yarn into a soft, flexible slip on that you can wear barefoot or with socks. The Soleic foam insole is a game-changer providing an ocean of comfort with arch support and lightweight cushioning.
Learn More
Built to Last—On Your Feet, Not In The Ocean
Clean Shoes that are both seriously durable and fully biodegradable*? Sounds too good to be true. Well, it’s not—but it is an impressive feat in eco-innovation.
Despite their plant-based materials, BLUEVIEW shoes are just as solid as the rest. Designed by surf scientists with a penchant for exploration and tested extensively by third-party labs, they hold up and support you through all of your adventures. And they won’t break down until you’ve decided they have reached their limit and decide to return your plant-based shoes to the Earth that helped produce them.
Until then, the anatomically contoured soles will support your feet and your body wherever you adventure next, from the sand to the streets. Put them on, grab your board, and prepare for this next wave of change.
Learn More
What are our shoes made of?
Upper
Hemp, TENCEL™ Lyocell fiber, and Organic Cotton
Bottom
Our Soleic® Foam (insole, cupsole, outsole)
Our component materials biodegrade*
Hemp, TENCEL™ Lyocell fiber, and cotton are plant-derived materials that are well known to biodegrade*. When we put our whole shoe into compost, the upper looks as shown on the right after just 6 weeks.
Soleic® Foam Biodegradation*
Our Soleic® foam biodegrades to its component chemicals in compost and soil. We test this in a number of different ways, which you can read about below or in our peer-reviewed published paper. A third party has verified biodegradation of our Soleic® foam in about 200 days, as compared to cellulose.
PEER REVIEWED SCIENCE PAPERS AND THIRD-PARTY VERIFICATIONS
Below is a link to our peer reviewed science paper that describes the detailed science behind how our SoleicTM polyurethane biodegrades.
The world’s first biodegradable* shoe
*The vast majority of shoes manufactured today are made with petroleum plastics that will persist for hundreds of years in the natural environment. At BLUEVIEW we reinvented our materials to solve that problem. Every single component of our plant-based shoes biodegrade under aerobic composting conditions (ASTM D5338) - which means, they will completely break down when exposed to air, moisture, and microorganisms in compost. The rate of biodegradation is dependent on the specific part of the shoe, as well as the specific environment it’s placed in. Our knit uppers degrade under these industrial composting conditions within just a few months, as do our insoles. Our polyurethane cupsoles and outsoles also biodegrade under these conditions, but at a slower rate, as they were designed to be durable as well as biodegradable. Our heel counter, lasting board, glues, and thread were all chosen because they also biodegrade under composting conditions. Our data shows that the BLUEVIEW Pacific shoe will biodegrade in less than 1 year in industrial composting conditions.
