And today, there's a ton of options.

而現在，有無數的選擇。

In 2018, footwear was a $250 billion industry.

在 2018 年，鞋業產值約 2,500 億美金 (約 76 兆台幣)。

With over 24 million shoes produced globally.

該年全球製造了超過 2,400 萬雙鞋子。

Just look at Kanye.

看看 Kanye 就知道了。

His shoe and apparel line is valued at $1 billion dollars.

他的鞋子與服裝產線價值十億美金 (約 30 億台幣)。

The problem is, lots of shoes, especially sneakers, aren't made to last.

問題是，許多鞋子，尤其是運動鞋，並不能放很久。

They're made of plastic, and we can't recycle them.

它們是由塑膠製成的，且無法回收。

So a lot of them end up as trash.

所以許多鞋子最後都變成垃圾。

So, the question: can sneakers become sustainable?

問題是，運動鞋能成為一種永續產物嗎？

The average American, in 2018, bought seven pairs of shoes.

2018 年，一個美國人平均買了七雙鞋子。

But let's focus on the sneaker, which wasn't always so popular.

我們來看一下運動鞋，它們並不是一直都那麼熱門。

Here's where it started.

以下是一切的起源。

It's the late 1870s.

是從 1870 年代末開始的。

Lawn tennis becomes popular, which allows men and women to compete against each other.

草地網球開始盛行，讓男女可以彼此競爭。

Or tennis and chill.

或打網球純聊天。

That game also created a new must-have item, these.

這些網球運動也造就了一股購買風潮，也就是網球鞋。

Sports became really popular.

運動變得盛行。

Basketball, Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey, golf.

籃球、棒球、搏擊、高爾夫球。

And by 1919, almost 20 million pairs of tennis shoes were being produced in the US.

到了 1919 年，美國約製造了 2,000 萬雙網球鞋。

Brands like Keds, Converse, and PF Flyers launched the very beginning of the sneaker market.

像 Keds、Converse 與 PF Flyer 的品牌，也在這時開啟了運動鞋的市場。

This is Pensole Footwear Design Academy.

這裡是 Pensole 波鞋設計學院。

And this is D'Wayne Edwards, its founder.

而這是創辦人 D'Wayne Edwards。

Shoes are very complicated.

鞋子很複雜。

Also, one of the first black footwear designers.

他也是首幾位黑人鞋設計師。

His resume includes LA Gear, Sketchers, Nike, and Jordan.

他為 LA Gear、Sketchers、Nike 與 Jordan 設計過鞋款。

So, plastics made their way onto sneakers in a few key areas.

塑膠在幾個部位成了製作運動鞋的重要原料。

First, in the outsole for support.

第一，在外底來提供支撐力。

And then in the heel counter for structure.

然後，給予腳跟穩定器結構支撐。

In the 1970s jogging becomes super popular.

在 1970 年代，慢跑變得十分受歡迎。

Companies introduce polyurethane foam into the midsole, which makes jogging more... uh, comfortable.

各公司引進聚氨酯 (PU) 泡綿來製作鞋子的中底。這讓慢跑變得...嗯，更舒服。

But they don't stop there.

但他們並沒有停下腳步。

They start to focus on the athletes.

他們開始專注於運動員的需求。

The goal was, if you can make their footwear lighter, then you can make the athlete faster.

目標是，如果你可以讓他們的鞋子變輕，就能讓他們變快。

Molded EVA replaces polyurethane in the midsole, which... immediately cut the weight down in half almost.

熱成型 EVA 取代了 PU 成為中底的材料，這使得... 鞋子重量幾乎直接減少一半。

And almost simultaneously, synthetic leather is introduced into the upper, which impacts the fit, weight, and maybe more importantly, the design.

近乎同時期，人造皮革成為鞋幫材料，改變了鞋子的舒適度、重量，與更重要的是，設計。

My name is Nicoline van Enter.

我是 Nicoline van Enter。

I am the founder and creative director of the Footwearists.

我是 Footwearists 的創辦人與創意總監。

Nicoline is a footwear forecaster and shoe designer.

Nicoline 是一名鞋子趨勢預測師與設計師。

Her job is to see trends before they even happen.

她的工作就是在潮流還沒發生前就看見它。

Everybody could imagine classic sneakers, for instance, that you collect from the late 80s or the early 90s.

每個人都可以預想得到，自己從 1980 年代末或 1990 年代初開始收藏的經典運動鞋......

Often now, when you open the box the sole just crumbles away.

若現在打開鞋盒，鞋底應該都已化為碎片了。

That's essentially what happens to the plastics, and that's also why it's difficult to have a plastic shoe, recycle it into another plastic shoe.

這就是使用塑膠會發生的事。這也是很難將一雙塑膠製鞋，回收再製成另一雙塑膠製鞋的原因。

So, right now, shoes are essentially a hodgepodge of materials, which means when you want to recycle an old shoe, your options are donating it, grinding it, or throwing it away.

現在，鞋子可說是各種材料的大雜燴，這表示你如果想回收舊鞋，你的選項只有捐出去、磨碎它或把它丟掉。

And, that's a pretty short life cycle, but the future is actually really exciting.

這生命週期算是很短，但未來讓人十分興奮。

As consumers, there are more sustainable options than ever before.

消費者現在有更永續的選項了。

The World Footwear 2030 Report predicts that sustainability will drive innovation in the footwear industry, and it's already happening.

The World Footwear 組織預測 2030 年時，永續發展會是鞋類創新的能量來源。

Big brands are experimenting with things like bio-fabrication, like, using mushrooms to grow the materials for their shoes, and 3D printing, which significantly reduces waste during the manufacturing process.

大品牌開始實驗生物編織技術，像是用蘑菇來栽培出鞋子可用的材料。

One example of this is the Adidas FUTURECRAFT.LOOP:

其中一個例子就是 Adidas 的 Futurecraft Loop。

Here's how it works.

以下是運作方式。

You have a shoe of only one material.

如果有款鞋子只用一個材質製成...

You can grind that up, take it back to pellets, melt that again, and turn it back into the same TPU that the shoe was made of.

就可以把它磨碎成顆粒，融化它、使它變回鞋子最初的 TPU 材質。

But, companies still don't know how many times that process can be repeated.

但各公司仍不清楚可以重複幾次這個過程。

Another consideration: Can a sustainable shoe still appeal to sneaker culture?

另一個重點，這種永續鞋款還能吸引消費者嗎？

Sustainability right now does not have a design language:

其實已經在進行中了。

You can hold up a sustainable material and a non-sustainable material in the form of a synthetic, a textile, a leather, a plastic, a foam, and not be able to tell the difference.

你可以拿著一雙永續製成的鞋子，與一雙非永續材料，如紡織品、皮革、塑膠、泡棉等，製成的鞋子，且看不出兩者間的差別。

That's a problem.

那是個問題。

If you want consumers to truly embrace sustainability, you have to win the aesthetic game, and the aesthetic game is allowing sustainability to have its own natural aesthetic.

若想要消費者擁抱永續性產品，你得在美觀上勝出別人。這場美觀戰爭，能讓永續產品發展出自己的自然美學。

So, back to the question: Can sneakers become sustainable?

回到最原始的問題，運動鞋能成為永續產品嗎？

It's going to come down to how much companies are willing to invest, what consumers want, and if technology can drive the change that will give us a material that's well... better than plastic.

這取決於多少公司願意投資，與消費者的期望。如果科技能促成變化，使我們獲得一種材料，嗯，比塑膠還好的那種。