Biodegradable Sneakers Sprout Flowers When Planted

Zothecula writes "People may joke about their dirty old sneakers turning into science projects or mini ecosystems, but once OAT Shoes' compostable sneakers become commercially available within the next several weeks ... let's just say, those same people may no longer be joking when they make those kind of statements. Made using hemp, cork, bio-cotton, certified biodegradable plastics, chlorine-free bleach and other nontoxic materials, the shoes are designed to completely break down when buried in the ground – the first batch will even come with seeds in their tongues, so that wildflowers will sprout up in commemoration of users' planted, expired kicks."

Comments

Re:Obligatory

[Velex]

Oh, good grief. Not all cannabis plants contain THC, just cannabis sativa.

And why do teenager need to smoke their shoes? Can't the free market step in and provide a more cost-effect alternative to meet this demand...?

Oops, I see what I did there.

Re:Obligatory

[spun]

Ah, so you think that marijuana was outlawed simply because it is a drug? Haha, no. The fact that hemp is so useful at producing fiber and paper is actually one of the bigger reasons it was outlawed in the first place. Basically, there were three real reasons: First, it is an effective treatment for many minor conditions, but is not patentable, and therefore, even though big pharma companies all sold it, they would rather sell patent medicines for a higher profit. Second, at the time of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, nylon had just been invented (1935) and DuPont wanted people to buy nylon rather than hemp ropes, especially with war looming. Thirdly, William Randolph Hearst's newspaper empire had begun to crumble when he flipped political positions and began viciously attacking FDR: Hearst's readership were mostly blue collar workers, and not happy with his editorial slant. But Hearst had huge timber holdings, if he couldn't make money selling newspapers, he could still make money selling paper, even more if hemp were out of the picture.

The legislators who outlawed the demon weed Marijuana at the behest of wealthy interests probably had no idea that marijuana and hemp were the same thing.They were told that it was a drug used by Mexicans and Blacks that made them want to rape white women.