Company Creates Baby Shoes That Can Dissolve in Water

This company created sustainable baby shoes that can be dissolved by boiling them in water once your child outgrows them.

Source: Jesse Milliken/YouTube

Woolybubs founders Jesse and Megan Milliken created the Portland, Oregon-based company because they were feeling guilty about how frequently they were throwing away outgrown clothes for their three children. They knew all of these clothes would end up in the landfill, so they decided to do something about it.

They developed the revolutionary biodegradable baby shoe that can dissolve in boiling water. Geek Wire reported that Jesse previously spent 15 years at Nike in product creation and innovation while Megan worked as a program manager at CLEAResult. They took their skills and backgrounds to create the Woolybubs in January 2020.

The shoes are made from water-soluble plastic called Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which uses less energy and water than other textile production, the company says. The company is certified in the Oeko-Tex 100 to ensure that the dissolved solution is non-toxic and can be safely poured down the drain.

The company says that over 300 million pairs of shoes are thrown away every year.

Woolybubs currently offers three products, the Newbie, Toddle, and Woolybub. At the moment, only the Newbie can dissolve, while the other models are stitched with yarn made from discarded plastic. All shoes can also be sent back to the company to be recycled again.

We need to preserve our planet! 13 million tons of clothes end up in our landfills and fast fashion has changed the way that we think about clothes. It’s always best to recycle clothes and go to second-hand or thrift stores when looking for new clothing. The recent boom in secondhand clothing is reducing fashion’s impact on the planet and showing that secondhand shoppers are eco-conscious and savvy, not just “hipsters”!

Read more about eco-friendly fashion and goods on One Green Planet. Check out these articles:

• 10 Fashion Brands That are Helping the Environment
• Your Guide to Cruelty-Free Clothing
• Fashion is the 2nd Largest Water Polluter in the World! How to Reduce Your Clothing Footprint
• Look Great: Your Guide to Vegan-Friendly Shopping
• Kanye Talks About Making his Clothing Brand Yeezy Eco-Friendly
• How to Recycle Clothes
• 8 Creative DIY Ideas for Old Clothes
• 13 Million Tons of Clothes Are Filling Up Our Landfills
• How to Repurpose, Recycle, or Resell Old Shoes
• How to Repurpose, Recycle, and Reuse Old Mattresses
• How to Repurpose, Recycle, and Reuse Old Chairs
• How to Recycle Wrapping Paper and Greeting Cards
• How Shopping Waste-Free is Better for Your Health and the Planet – Plus 3 Easy Tips to Help You Do it

Related Content:

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Easy Ways to Help the Planet:

• Eat Less Meat: Download Food Monster, the largest plant-based Recipe app on the App Store, to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy. You can also buy a hard or soft copy of our favorite vegan cookbooks.
• Reduce Your Fast Fashion Footprint: Take the initiative by standing up against fast fashion Pollution and supporting sustainable and circular brands like Tiny Rescue that raise awareness around important issues through recycled zero-waste clothing designed to be returned and remade over and over again.
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• Do What You Can: Reduce waste, plant trees, eat local, travel responsibly, reuse stuff, say no to single-use plastics, recycle, vote smart, switch to cold water laundry, divest from fossil fuels, save water, shop wisely, Donate if you can, grow your food, volunteer, conserve energy, compost, and don’t forget about the microplastics and microbeads lurking in common household and personal care products!