Shoes Are Built to Last Too Long 鞋子做得太耐穿了

Thomas Bogle has worked in the footwear industry for years. He also loves torun. He runs every day in the forest near his home in Colorado. But while training fora race， he couldn’t stop thinking about the bits of plastic and rubber1 that his shoeswere shedding2 on the forest floor.

With every step we take， our shoes leave behind an invisible3 trail4 ofcontaminants5. These contaminants can potentially6 harm the soil， water andanimal health.

Shoes contain different types of plastics. Every year， about 500，000 tons ofmicroplastics seep7 into the world’s oceans. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic.They form as larger plastic objects break down. They can harm living things and theenvironment.

Bogle is trying to do something. He wants to change the way that shoes are made.

托马斯·博格尔在制鞋行业工作多年。他也喜欢跑步。他每天都在科罗拉多州他家附近的森林里跑步。但在为一项比赛进行训练时，他不由自主地想到了他的鞋子在森林地面上脱落的塑料和橡胶碎片。

我们每走一步，鞋子都会留下一条看不见的污染物痕迹。这些污染物可能会对土壤、水和动物健康造成潜在危害。

鞋子含有不同类型的塑料。每年，约有50 万吨微塑料渗入世界海洋。微塑料是微小的塑料片。它们是在较大的塑料物体分解时形成的。它们会危害生物和环境。

博格尔正在努力做点什么。他想改变鞋子的制造方式。

Waste Problem With Sneakers

Some shoe brands are trying to developgreener shoes. For example， some shoebrands have changed the materials in theupper sections of shoes.

But many brands have largelyoverlooked soles8. A sole is the bottom part ofa shoe. It is made up of the insole， whichtouches the bottom of your foot， and theoutsole， which makes direct contact with theground when you walk.

Now， several companies are starting todevelop plant-based soles. They don’t leaveplastics behind when they break down.

Shoes are designed to last 1，000 years， andwe use them for 100 days， said Yuly Fuentes-Medel. She helped write a report on how tomake the shoe industry more sustainable9.

运动鞋的浪费问题

一些鞋履品牌正在尝试开发更环保的鞋子。例如，一些鞋履品牌已经更换了鞋面的材料。

但许多品牌在很大程度上忽视了鞋底。鞋底是鞋的底部。它由鞋垫和外底组成，鞋垫接触你的脚底，外底在你走路时与地面直接接触。

现在，几家公司开始开发植物鞋底。它们分解时不会留下塑料。

“鞋子被设计成可以持久使用1000 年，而我们使用100天。”尤利·富恩特斯-梅德尔说。她帮忙写了一份关于如何使鞋业更具可持续性的报告。

Fixing Footwear

Americans alone throw away 300million pairs of shoes every year. Onlyabout 13 percent of clothing and footwear isrecycled in the United States.

That’s partly because of the complexity10 of the shoemaking process.The average sneaker is composed of morethan 130 individual pieces. That makes itnearly impossible to recycle them.

The plastics in shoes also causeproblems while people are wearing them.One study suggests that plastic from shoesoles reduces soil’s capacity11 to holdwater. Another study suggested that salmonwere dying due to a chemical that is foundin both tires and footwear.

Plant-based soles can solve some of theproblems. They won’t shed plastic into theenvironment. Plus， they generate fewer toxic12 chemicals. But shoes made withnatural materials face some of the samechallenges as plastic-based shoes once they’rethrown out. Taking the shoes apart is stillhard. Recycling shoes will require setting upnew systems.

But Fuentes-Medel said it’s importantthat people continue to ask for theseplant-based products. She said thesystems for recycling will fall intoplace. This could lead to a moresustainable shoe industry.

处理鞋类

仅美国人每年就扔掉3 亿双鞋。在美国，只有大约13%的服装和鞋类被回收利用。

这在一定程度上是因为制鞋过程的复杂性。普通的运动鞋由130 多个单件组成。这使得回收利用它们几乎不可能。

当人们穿着鞋子时，鞋子里的塑料也会引起问题。一项研究表明，鞋底的塑料会降低土壤的蓄水能力。另一项研究表明，三文鱼正因一种存在于轮胎和鞋类中的化学物质而死亡。

植物鞋底能解决其中一些问题。它们不会将塑料脱落到环境中。此外，它们产生的有毒化学物质更少。但是，用天然材料制成的鞋子一旦被扔掉，就会面临与塑料鞋相同的挑战。拆开这双鞋仍然很难。回收鞋子需要建立新的系统。

但富恩特斯-梅德尔表示，人们继续要求这些植物性产品是很重要的。她说，回收系统会到位。这将使制鞋业更具可持续性。

Sustainable Soles

Bogle had an idea to create an entirelyplastic-free shoe outsole. He got some helpfrom Gene Kelly. He is a professor of soilscience and a fellow runner. Together，Bogle and Kelly developed a shoe sole. Itis made of beeswax13， vegetable oils andplant products such as leaves and husks14from corn and other crops.

Bogle’s company partners with farmers.The farmers grow and harvest the plantmaterials. Then， the materials are blended15with natural rubber to create the sole.

These shoes don’t shed toxicchemicals. Instead， the soles put nutrients16back into the soil as they naturally weardown over time.

These days， Bogle runs， hikes and golfs inshoes with his company’s plant-based soles.

“Footwear is a very hard product tofix，”he said. “It really requires completelychanging how we think about footwearand how we make footwear and thematerials we use.”

环保鞋底

博格尔有创造一种完全不含塑料的鞋外底的想法。他得到了吉恩·凯利的帮助。吉恩·凯利是土壤科学的教授，也是一名跑步爱好者。博格尔和凯利共同开发了一款鞋底。它由蜂蜡、植物油和诸如玉米和其他作物的叶子和外壳的植物产品制成。

博格尔的公司与农民合作。农民种植和收割植物材料。然后，这些材料与天然橡胶混合被制成鞋底。

这些鞋子不会释放有毒化学物质。相反，随着时间的推移，鞋底会自然磨损，从而将营养物质重新注入土壤。

现在，博格尔穿着他公司植物鞋底的鞋子跑步、远足和打高尔夫球。

“鞋类是一种很难处理的产品。”他说，“这确实需要彻底改变我们对鞋类的看法、我们制造鞋类的方法和使用的材料。”

Notes

1. rubber 橡胶

2. shed 落；掉落

3. invisible 看不见的

4. trail 痕迹

5. contaminant 污染物

6. potentially 可能地，潜在地

7. seep 渗漏，渗透

8. sole 脚底；鞋底

9. sustainable 可持续的；不破坏环境的

10. complexity 复杂性

11. capacity 能力

12. toxic 有毒的

13. beeswax 蜂蜡，黄蜡

14. husk 皮；外壳

15. blend （使）混合，调和

16. nutrient 养分，营养物