These Baby Shoes Can Be Dissolved In Water After Their Wearer Outgrows Them
A mark of a child’s development is often seen in how fast they outgrow their clothes. However, at the rate kids grow there will usually be a pile of too-small clothes at the back of their closets. While some parents will save them as hand-me-downs for the next kid, there will come a time when the clothes will eventually have to be gotten rid of.
So, what can we do with all that waste? A company called Woolybubs may have found the perfect solution: dissolvable shoes.
The company was started by two parents in Oregon who noticed that they were producing an exorbitant amount of waste while raising their three kids. The company started as an eco-friendly kids’ shoe company, and its latest iteration, ‘The Newbie’, is revolutionizing how we recycle retail waste.
Once a baby has outgrown the footwear, all parents need to do is dump it into a pot of boiling water, wait for 40 minutes, and poof! The shoe has disappeared.
The footwear is made out of a 100% biodegradable silk fabric that is coated in water-soluble plastic, the same kind that coats detergent pods and cosmetics. The material makes for a pair that is stylish and can support a baby’s growth.
At its end of life, the slip-on dissolves into a non-toxic liquid that can be safely poured down the drain.
As a bonus, the shoe is designed to last through two different children so they can be used as hand-me-downs, as well.
Parents won’t need to worry about the product disintegrating in the wash, or about their child wearing the shoes in the rain as they only dissolve at boiling temperatures. Interestingly, they are also safe for children to chew on.
Ultimately, dissolvable shoes could be a step in the right direction to mitigating waste produced by raising children.
[via Good News Network and Business Wire, cover image via Woolybubs]
